^ ) 


/  a  .2i:i.x:^ 


LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,     N.    J. 


Presented  by 


TneL  Widow   or   Greor6'e."I3uo'b\n ;,    ^(» 


BS  511  .W43  1919 

Wheeler,  Everett 

Pepperrell 

1840-1925. 

A  lawyer's  study 

of  the 

Bible 

(7 


A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE   BIBLE 

ITS  ANSWER  TO  THE  QUESTIONS   OF  TODAY 


A  LAWYER'S   STUDY  OF 
THE  BIBLE 

Its  Answer  to  the  Questions  of  Today 


BY  , 

EVERETT  PEPPERRELL''WHEELER;^?r:M: 

Author  of  "Sixty  Years  of  American  Life,"  "Daniel  Webster, 

the  Expounder  of  the  Constitution,"  "The  Modern 

Law  of  Carriers,"  etc. 


"The  Bible  the  best  gutcU  to  Political  sktll  and  fotsstght." 

—Coleridge 


New  York  Chicago 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1919,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:     75     Princes    Street 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTEE  PAQB 

Introduction 7 

I     Rules  for  the  Study  of  the  Bible       13 
II    Truth 22 

III  The  Presence  of  God  in  the  Soul 

OF  Man 30 

IV  Prayer  .       .       ..       ..       .       .       .46 

V    Miracles 58 

VI    Fatalism  and  the  Individual  .       .       66 

VII     Socialism 80 

VIII     Social  Settlements  ....     108 

IX     The  Christian  Church  as  a  Fac- 
tor in  Social  Progress  .       .       .     128 

X    Formalism i53 

XI    War 162 

XII  Justice  and  Mercy    .       .       .       .173 

XIII  Judicial  Proceedings        .       .       .180 

XIV  Labour,  Capital,  and  Strikes       .     186 
XV  Immortality        .       .       .       .       .214 

Index     .       .      ■,-      .       .       .       .     225 


INTRODUCTION 

THE  experience  of  a  long  and  busy  life  has 
led  me  to  the  conclusion  that  the  principles 
of  action  which  are  taught  in  the  Bible  are 
wise;  that  they  are  the  true  foundations  for  right 
living ;  that  they  contain  the  principles  according  to 
which  social  reforms  can  be  most  wisely  promoted, 
and  are,  to  use  the  words  of  Coleridge,  **  the  best 
guide  to  political  skill  and  foresight." 

And  it  seems  to  me  that  most  of  the  errors  into 
which  religious  people  have  fallen  from  age  to  age, 
have  been  occasioned  by  a  partial  and  inadequate 
study  of  the  Bible.  If  I  am  right  in  this,  it  follows 
that  it  is  a  matter  of  great  importance  to  know  and 
follow  the  rules  which  should  guide  us  in  the  inter- 
pretation of  the  Scriptures. 

I  have  in  my  first  chapter  endeavoured  to  present 
these  rules  as  we  have  been  taught  them  by  the 
greatest  judges  of  England  and  America.  In  subse- 
quent chapters,  I  have  endeavoured  to  state  the  con- 
clusions upon  many  questions  of  present  interest,  to 
which  a  study  of  the  Bible,  according  to  these  prin- 
ciples, has  led  my  mind. 

I  have  not  tried  to  present  the  results  of  modern 
criticism  respecting  the  dates  when  various  portions 
of  the  Bible  were  composed  and  published.  These 
have  an  interest  for  many,  but  for  those  who  believe 

7 


8  INTRODUCTION 

in  the  divine  authority  of  the  Scriptures,  it  seems 
to  me  comparatively  unimportant  whether,  for 
example,  the  Book  of  Genesis  had  one  author  or 
several. 

One  of  the  objections  to  the  present  authority  of 
the  Scriptures  is  drawn  from  the  great  changes  in 
human  conditions  since  they  were  written.  It  is 
undoubtedly  true  that  conditions  .change  from  age  to 
age,  and  that  rules  which  are  wise  in  one  generation 
often  are  not  susceptible  of  literal  application  in 
another.  But  on  the  other  hand,  the  fundamental 
principles  of  human  conduct,  and  the  moral  law  of 
God  are  unchangeable. 

We  may  apply  to  them  what  Whibley  says  of  the 
philosophy  of  the  great  French  General  of  our  time, 
Foch : 

"  Although  the  manifold  inventions  of  modern 
times  have  given  to  warfare  a  wider  scope  and  fresh 
materials.  General  Foch  declares  that  in  its  conduct 
it  remains  obedient  to  the  same  laws  as  in  the  past, 
but  it  applies  these  laws  with  means  more  numerous, 
more  powerful,  and  more  delicate.  For  that  reason 
the  executive  part  of  war  demands  greater  care  on 
the  part  of  all.  And  by  an  apt  illustration  he  makes 
his  meaning  plain  to  all.  "  Thus,"  he  writes,  "  at  cer- 
tain epochs  the  art  of  construction  in  a  particular 
style  takes  a  wider  range,  which  permits  the  use  of 
new  materials,  and  a  more  highly  finished  method  of 
work;  but  for  all  that,  the  principles  of  statics,  which 
govern  the  architecture  of  all  time,  remain  unmodified. 
It  is  the  same  with  the  art  of  war,  even  after  the 
latest  campaigns.  Forms  evolve,  directing  principles 
are  unchanged. 


INTRODUCTION  9 

"  For  in  reality  as  Marshal  Foch  concludes :  ^ 
"  *  The  great  events  of  history,  the  disasters  which  it 
records  in  some  of  its  pages,  such  as  the  destruction 
of  the  French  power  in  1870,  are  never  accidents  but 
rather  the  results  of  superior  and  general  causes,  such 
as  the  forget  fulness  of  the  commonest  moral  and  in- 
tellectual truths,  or  the  abandonment  of  the  activity 
of  mind  and  body  which  constitute  the  life  and  health 
of  armies.'  " 

It  ought  not  to  be  necessary  to  adduce  authorities 
in  support  of  my  main  proposition,  that  the  Bible, 
when  wisely  studied  and  rightly  understood  is  of 
inestimable  practical  value.  Yet  we  are  told  on 
every  side  that  young  people  neglect  this  essential 
part  of  their  education.  Let  me  call  their  attention 
to  what  some  of  the  most  effective  men  of  the  pres- 
ent generation  have  said  on  this  subject. 

President  Woodrow  Wilson : 

"  I  am  glad  to  have  an  opportunity  to  endorse  the 
eflfort  of  the  American  Bible  Society  to  procure  a 
fund  of  $400,000  to  cover  the  expenses  of  supplying 
the  men  in  the  Army  and  Navy  with  Bibles.  This  is 
an  object  which  I  am  sure  all  Christian  people  will 
wish  to  see  accomplished.  I  hope  that  it  may  be,  for 
the  sake  of  the  men  who  are  going  to  the  front.  They 
will  need  the  support  of  the  only  book  from  which 
they  can  get  it." 

Ex-President  Theodore  Roosevelt : 

"  I  send  my  good  wishes  to  you  in  your  efforts 
to  put  the  Church  behind  Pershing  and  the  American 

"I  Philosophy  of  Gen.  Foch.  BJackzvood's  Magazine.  Re- 
printed in  The  Living  Age,  Aug.  3,  1918. 


iG  INTRODUCTION 

Army  abroad.  Christianity  is  not  a  milk-and-water 
affair ;  it  is  not  a  teaching  for  those  who  shrink  from 
what  is  rough  and  evil  and  terrible  in  life.  There  is 
no  other  book  in  the  world  that  teaches  courage, 
obedience,  integrity,  and  self-sacrifice,  as  does  the 
Bible.  I  earnestly  hope  that  you  will  succeed  in  put- 
ting the  Bible  into  the  hands  of  every  soldier  in  our 
Army,  and  that  you  will  inspire  the  American  people 
to  put  the  spirit  of  the  Bible  into  themselves." 

Marshal  Foch — A  la  New  York  Bible  Society :  ^ 

"  La  Bible  est  certainement  le  meilleur  viatique  que 
vous  puissiez  donner  au  Soldat  Americain  partant  a 
la  bataille  pour  entretenir  son  magnifique  ideal  et  sa 
foi." 

Premier  Lloyd  George  said  in  1918: 

"  The  more  our  two  peoples  know  one  another  the 
better  I  believe  they  will  get  on  together,  and  the 
greater  the  work  they  will  be  able  to  do  for  the 
world.  Their  ideals,  as  well  as  their  literature,  are 
fundamentally  the  same  and  are  equally  derived  from 
that  great  source  of  wisdom,  the  Bible." 

In  an  admirable  history  of  the  Renaissance  we 
are  told  of  that  fruitful  period  of  the  development 
of  the  human  intellect.^ 

"  Religion  answered  to  an  ever-living  need  of  the 
human  heart.    The  Bible  was  no  longer  a  mere  docu- 

2  To  the  New  York  Bible  Society:  The  Bible  is  certainly 
the  best  viaticum  that  you  can  give  to  an  American  soldier 
about  to  go  into  battle  to  sustain  his  magnificent  ideal  and 
his  faith. 

3  Bcrenson,  "  The  Venetian  Painters,"  p.  54. 


INTRODUCTION  ii 

ment  wherewith  to  justify  Christian  dogma.  It  was 
rather  a  series  of  parables  and  symbols  pointing  at 
all  times  to  the  path  that  led  to  a  finer  and  nobler 
life." 

Some  portions  of  some  of  the  chapters  in  this 
book  have  heretofore  appeared  in  magazines.  My 
acknowledgments  are  due,  and  are  rendered  to  the 
Outlook,  the  Churchman,  and  the  Chronicle  for  con- 
senting to  their  use  in  this  volume. 

E.  P.  W. 


RULES  FOR  THE  STUDY  OF 
THE  BIBLE 

ALL  Christian  churches  agree  that  the  Bible  is 
a  collection  of  sacred  books,  inspired  by  the 
^  Holy  Spirit  of  God,  and  "  profitable  for  doc- 
trine, for  reproof,  for  correction,  for  instruction  in 
righteousness/'  ^ 

It  is  then  in  these  books  that  we  should  study  the 
principles  of  Christian  Ethics— the  Christian  Law 
of  Life  and  Love. 

But  the  reader  will  ask— What  do  you  mean  by 
inspiration?  To  this  I  answer— not  verbal  inspira- 
tion. We  do  not  believe  that  the  authors  of  these 
books  wrote  them  down  from  dictation  as  a  secre- 
tary writes  what  the  chief  dictates.  But  we  do 
believe  that  "  holy  men  of  God  spake,  moved  by  the 
Holy  Ghost.''  ^  The  books  of  the  Bible  have  been 
selected  by  the  general  voice  of  Christendom,  as 
distinctly— the  inspired  books— the  Bible.  Christ 
said  to  His  apostles  the  evening  before  the  cruci- 
fixion: "When  he,  the  spirit  of  truth  is  come,  he 
will  guide  you  into  all  truth."  '  The  authors  of  the 
New  Testament  books  did  receive  this  guidance  and 
were  enabled  to  receive  and  teach  many  truths  that 

1 3  Tim.  3 :  i6.       «  2  St.  Peter  1:21.       »  St.  John  16 ;  13. 

13 


14     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

Christ  had  not  taught.  He  said  Himself  on  the 
same  occasion,*  *'  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say 
unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now."  But  He 
also  said  just  before  His  Ascension  ^ — "  Lo,  I  am 
with  you  always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world." 
This  thought  of  continuous  inspiration  will  be  dwelt 
upon  later.  I  speak  of  it  now  lest  it  be  supposed 
that  I  limit  the  power  and  teaching  of  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  the  contents  of  the  Bible. 

The  man  vv'ho  really  believes  that  "  Holy  Scrip- 
ture containeth  all  things  necessary  to  salvation  "  * 
must  first  ask  himself — How  shall  I  study  Holy 
Scripture?  What  shall  be  my  guide?  What  rules 
shall  I  follow? 

To  this  we  answer — Follow  the  same  rules  that 
wise  jurists  have  laid  down  for  the  study  and  inter- 
pretation of  Constitutions  and  statutes.  These  laws 
are  rules  of  action,  dictated  by  the  supreme  author- 
ity in  the  State.  So  far  as  the  interpretation  of  their 
language,  and  the  ascertainment  of  their  real  mean- 
ing are  concerned,  the  methods  of  study,  and  the 
principles  of  construction  have  been  made  the  sub- 
ject of  careful  investigation  by  some  of  the  wisest 
of  mankind.  The  judges  who  formulated  the  rules 
of  judicial  interpretation  have  been  aided  by  the 
arguments  of  Counsel,  many  of  whom  were  the 
leading  statesmen  of  their  time.  If  these  rules  had 
been  more  carefully  studied  and  more  closely  fol- 
lowed by  the  students  of  Holy  Scripture,  many  mis- 

4  St.  John  i6:  12. 
6  St.  Matt.  28 :  20. 
« Articles  of  Religion,  Episcopal  Church,  No.  VI. 


RULES  FOR  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE      15 

takes  would  have  been  avoided.  Indeed  we  hope 
to  prove  that  many  of  the  religious  errors  of 
well-meaning  people  are  due  to  partial  and 
one-sided  conception  of  the  teaching  of  the 
Bible. 

I.  The  first  rule  for  the  construction  of  human 
laws  is  this :  Follow  the  rule  of  construction  which 
the  law  itself  prescribes.  Such  rules  are  often  pre- 
scribed in  statutes.  The  United  States  Judicial 
Code  does  this  (Sections  291-295).  In  every  State 
there  are  similar  instances  of  definite  legislative 
rules  of  construction.  These  rules  are  to  be  treated 
as  controlling. 

For  example  the  Code  of  Civil  Procedure  adopted 
by  the  State  of  New  York  in  1876  contains  the 
following  Section  (519)  : 

"  The  allegations  of  a  pleading  must  be  liberally 
construed  with  a  view  to  substantial  justice  between 
the  parties."  This  section  became  a  fundamental 
rule  which  judges  were  bound  to  obey.  They  are 
human,  as  well  as  clergymen,  and  have  not  always 
followed  this  statutory  rule. 

In  Holy  Scripture  there  is  prescribed  a  funda- 
mental rule  of  construction  which  is  really  the 
parent  of  this  and  all  similar  statutory  enactments. 
After  Christ  had  fed  the  multitude  and  given  His 
wonderful  sermon  in  Capernaum  about  the  bread  of 
life,  many  took  His  words  literally,  "  went  back, 
and  walked  no  more  with  him."  But  Jesus  said  to 
the  faithful  disciples — "  The  words  that  I  speak 
ynto  you  are  spirit,  and  are  life."  ^ 
^St.  John  6:63,  66. 


i6     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

So  when  the  spirit  of  truth  had  come,  He  guided 
St.  Paul  to  say  to  the  Corinthians :  ^  "  The  letter 
killeth,  but  the  spirit  giveth  life."  There  is  a  legal 
maxim  to  the  same  effect — He  that  sticks  in  the 
letter  sticks  in  the  bark,  and  never  gets  to  the  heart 
of  the  tree.®  Tagore  puts  it  well — "  The  men  who 
are  cursed  with  the  gift  of  the  literal  mind  are  the 
unfortunate  ones  who  are  always  busy  with  their 
nets,  and  neglect  the  fishing.". 

This  then  is  our  first  rule  for  understanding  Holy 
Scripture.  Interpret  its  language  spiritually,  and 
not  literally. 

No  doubt  this  rule  may  be  abused.  So  may  every 
rule.  But  no  abuse  from  spiritual  interpretation  has 
been  so  harmful  as  those  that  have  flowed  from 
literal  interpretation. 

2.  A  second  rule  of  especial  importance  is  the 
requirement  that  the  books  of  the  Bible  are  to  be 
interpreted  according  to  the  circumstances  under 
which  they  were  respectively  written,  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  people  to  whom  they  were  originally 
addressed. 

As  Mr.  Justice  Wayne  puts  it  in  Norris  v.  City 
of  Boston :  ^« 

"  The  Constitution  is  to  be  interpreted  by  what  was 
the  condition  of  the  parties  to  it  when  it  was  formed, 
by  their  object  and  purpose  in  forming  it,  and  by  the 
actual  recognition  in  it,  of  the  dissimilar  institutions 
of  the  States." 

8  2  Cor.  3  :  6. 

9  Qui  haeret  in  litera,  haeret  in  cortice. 

1^  Passenger  Tax  Cases,  7  Howard  U,  S.  Rep.  283,    (1848.) 


RULES  FOR  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE      17 

An  even  greater  judge,  Chief  Justice  Marshall, 
thus  expressed  this  canon  in  the  celebrated  case  of 
Gibbons  v.  Ogden,^^  which  established  the  right  of 
freedom  of  trade  between  the  States  of  the  Union: 

**  If  from  the  imperfection  of  human  language 
there  should  be  serious  doubts  respecting  the  extent 
of  any  given  power,  it  is  a  well  settled  rule  that  the 
objects  for  which  it  was  given,  especially  when  those 
objects  are  expressed  in  the  instrument  itself,  should 
have  great  influence  in  the  construction." 

Mr.  Justice  Story  thus  states  this  rule  in  its 
application  to  conveyances  from  one  party  to 
another :  ^^ 

"  It  has  been  very  correctly  stated  at  the  Bar,  that 
in  the  construction  of  grants  the  court  ought  to  take 
into  consideration  the  circumstances  attendant  upon 
the  transaction,  the  particular  situation  of  the  parties, 
the  state  of  the  country,  and  the  state  of  the  thing 
granted,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  the  intention 
of  the  parties." 

3.  A  third  rule  of  interpretation  is  that  the  whole 
of  a  written  instrument,  whether  a  Constitution,  an 
agreement,  or  a  book  should  be  considered,  when 
a  question  arises,  as  to  the  meaning  of  a  particular 
part."" 

This  rule  is  thus  stated  by  Mr.  Justice  Clifford : " 

«9  Wheaton  U.  S.  Rep.  i.     (1824.) 
12  United  States  v.  Appleton,  i  Sumner  Rep.  492. 
^3 The  Latin  form  of  this  maxim  is,  "Ex  antecedantibus 
€t  consequentibus,  melior  fit  interpretatio." 
i*  United  States  v,  Reese,  92  U,  S.  Rep.  314. 


i8     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

"  Statutes  should  be  interpreted,  if  possible,  so  as 
to  avoid  any  repugnancy  between  the  different  parts 
of  the  same,  and  to  give  a  sensible  and  intelligent 
effect  to  every  one  of  their  provisions." 

A  striking  illustration  of  the  application  of  this 
rule  to  the  construction  of  a  book,  was  given  by 
Lord  Erskine  in  his  famous  argument  in  the  Dean 
of  St.  Asaph's  Case/^  He  contended  there,  upon  a 
trial  for  libel,  that  the  jury  must  consider  the  whole 
book  and  not  only  the  sentences  alleged  in  the  in- 
dictment to  be  libellous.  Were  it  otherwise,  he  said, 
the  printer  of  the  Book  of  Psalms  could  be  indicted 
for  publishing  the  false,  blasphemous,  and  seditious 
libel — '*  There  is  no  God.'*  Those  words  were  in- 
deed contained  in  that  book  ^^  but  prefixed  to  them 
are  the  other  words  which  qualify  the  meaning — 
"  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart." 

4.  A  fourth  rule  of  interpretation  is  the  logical 
consequence  of  the  third.  When  a  series  of  enact- 
ments are  under  consideration  they  should  be  con- 
strued together.  This  fundamental  rule  for  the 
construction  of  statutes  has  recently  been  clearly 
stated  by  the  Supreme  Court  as  follows :  ^^ 

"  The  legislation  is  in  pari  materia  with  the  Act 
of  185 1  and  must  be  read  in  connection  with  that  law, 
and  so  read,  should  be  given  such  an  effect,  not  incon- 
gruous with  that  law,  so  far  as  consistent  with  the 
terms  of  the  later  legislation." 

15  Speeches  of  Lord  Erskine.  (Ed.  Callaghan  and  Cock- 
roft,  1870.)    Vol.  I,  p.  268. 

16  Psalm  53:1. 

1^  Richardson  v.  Harmon,  222  U.  S.  96,  103. 


RULES  FOR  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE      19 

An  illustration  of  the  application  of  this  rule  is 
to  be  found  in  the  recent  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States  in  the  Conscription 
Cases.^^  Certain  persons  who  had  been  drafted  to 
serve  in  the  National  Army  contended  that  the  Con- 
scription Act  was  in  violation  of  the  Thirteenth 
Amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States : 

"  Neither  slavery  nor  involuntary  servitude,  except 
as  punishment  for  crime  whereof  the  party  shall  have 
been  duly  convicted,  shall  exist  within  the  United 
States  or  any  place  subject  to  their  jurisdiction." 

It  was  argued  that  compulsory  service  in  the 
Army  was  ''  involuntary  servitude."  But  the  court 
construed  this  Amendment  in  connection  with  Sub- 
division 12  of  Section  8,  Article  I,  which  gives  to 
Congress  power — "  To  raise  and  support  Armies." 
And  the  court  held  the  Conscription  to  be  author- 
ized by  the  Constitutional  power  thus  granted  to 
Congress. 

5.  A  fifth  rule  of  construction  (which  is  the 
logical  consequence  of  the  second)  is  that  a  reason- 
able interpretation  is  to  be  given  to  words,  which 
if  taken  literally  would  contravene  the  purpose  of 
the  statute.  In  other  words  the  court  presumes  that 
the  legislature  had  a  reasonable  purpose  in  enacting 
the  law  under  consideration. 

This  rule  is  thus  expressed  by  Judge  Miller  of 
the  New  York  Court  of  Appeals :  ^® 

18  Arver  v.  United  States,  38  Supreme  Court,  Rep.  159. 
1^  People  V.  Lacombe,  99  N.  Y.  Rep.  43,  49. 


20     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

"  It  is  the  spirit  and  purpose  of  a  statute  which 
are  to  be  regarded  in  its  interpretation  and  if  these 
find  fair  expression  in  the  statute  it  should  be  so 
construed  as  to  carry  out  the  legislative  intent,  even 
though  such  construction  is  contrary  to  the  literal 
meaning  of  some  provisions  of  the  statute.  A  rea- 
sonable construction  should  be  adopted  in  all  cases 
where  there  is  a  doubt  or  uncertainty  in  regard  to  the 
intention  of  the  law-makers," 

A  very  interesting  application  of  these  rules  of 
construction  is  to  be  found  in  a  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  on  the  proper  construction  of  the 
Contract  Labour  Act.'^ 

It  was  forbidden  by  that  act  to  assist  in  any  way 
the  migration  of  any  alien  "  under  any  contract  to 
perform  labour  or  service  of  any  kind  in  the  United 
States." 

The  court  held  that  it  was  not  a  violation  of  this 
statute  for  a  church  in  the  State  of  New  York  to 
make  an  agreement  with  an  English  clergyman  that 
he  should  come  to  this  country  and  render  service 
as  its  rector.  This  was  literally  within  the  statute, 
but  not  within  its  spirit. 

Mr.  Justice  Brewer  said: 

"  The  court  properly  looks  at  contemporaneous 
events,  the  situation  as  it  existed  and  as  it  was  pressed 
upon  the  attention  of  the  legislative  body. 

"  It  is  a  familiar  rule  that  a  thing  may  be  within 
the  letter  of  the  statute,  and  yet  not  within  the 
statute,  because  not  within  its  spirit,  nor  within  the 
intention  of  its  makers." 

20  Church  of  Holy  Trinity  v.  United  Statw,  143  U.  S.  Rep. 
457. 


RULES  FOR  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE     21 

Having  thus  stated  the  rules  which  should  guide 
the  student  of  the  Bible  to  a  correct  understanding 
of  the  spirit  and  meaning  of  the  books  which  com- 
pose the  sacred  volume,  we  will  take  up  various 
subjects  which  have  been  the  subject  of  discussion 
among  Christian  people  and  respecting  which  there 
have  been  diversities  of  opinion,  and  will  show  how 
the  application  of  the  rules  which  have  been  stated 
will  lead  to  a  correct  understanding  of  the  true 
Christian  doctrine  on  these  subjects. 


II 

TRUTH 

WHEN  Christ  was  arraigned  before  Pilate 
upon  the  accusation  that  He  was  a  traitor 
to  the  Roman  government,  and  was  try- 
ing to  make  Himself  King  of  the  Jews,  the  Roman 
judge  put  the  question  to  Him,  as  judges  do  now 
when  a  culprit  is  arraigned — ^guilty  or  not  guilty? 
As  Pilate  put  the  question,  it  was — Art  thou  the 
King  of  the  Jews?  Jesus  declared  that  His  king- 
dom was  not  of  this  world,  though  He  was  indeed 
a  king,  and  then  he  added :  "  To  this  end  was  I 
born,  and  for  this  cause  came  I  into  the  world  that 
I  should  bear  witness  unto  the  truth ;  every  one  that 
is  of  the  truth  heareth  my  voice." 

No  religion  has  ever  laid  such  stress  upon  the 
truth  as  that  which  is  revealed  in  the  Scriptures  of 
the  Old  and  New  Testament.  God  is  described  by 
Moses  as  the  "  God  of  truth."  ^  His  counsels  are 
said  to  be  "  faithfulness  and  truth."  '  "  All  his 
works  are  truth."  ^ 

In  man  this  quality  is  equally  commended. 
"  Judges  are  to  be  men  of  truth."  *  The  man  who 
is  to  abide  in  the  tent  of  the  Almighty  and  to  dwell 
upon  His  holy  hill  is  the  man  "that  speaketh  the 

iDeut.  32:4;  Psalm  31:5.  sDan.  4:37. 

2lsa.  25:1.  *Exod.  18:21. 

22 


TRUTH  23 

truth  from  his  heart."  ^  God  desires  truth  in  the 
heart  of  man.^  One  of  the  commandments  deliv- 
ered by  God  Himself  upon  Mount  Sinai  is :  "  Thou 
shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neighbour."  ^ 

Again  and  again  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs  the 
quality  of  truth  is  attributed  to  the  righteous  man. 
Men  are  exhorted  to  ''  buy  the  truth  and  sell  it  not." 
In  Isaiah  it  is  "  the  righteous  man  who  keepeth  the 
truth  that  is  to  enter  into  the  Holy  City."  ® 

When  Hosea  states  the  controversy  that  the  Lord 
hath  v/ith  the  children  of  Israel,  one  of  the  first 
counts  of  his  accusation  is :  "  There  is  no  truth  nor 
mercy,  nor  knowledge  of  God  in  the  land."  ^  For 
this,  as  for  other  crimes,  one  of  which  is  lying,  the 
judgment  of  God  is  denounced. 

In  the  New  Testament  the  divine  counsel  is  de- 
clared with  equal  plainness.  The  promise  of  Christ 
(part  of  which  the  Johns  Hopkins  University  has 
adopted  as  its  motto)  is: 

"Ye  shall  know  the  truth  and  the  truth  shall 
make  you  free."  '^  During  the  same  discussion 
with  the  people  in  which  these  words  were  uttered, 
Jesus  declared  to  those  that  sought  to  kill  Him  be- 
cause He  had  told  them  the  truth,  that  they  were  not 
really  the  children  of  God,  but  children  of  the  devil, 
because  they  did  the  devil's  work,  and  Christ  added  : 
"  He  was  a  murderer  from  the  beginning,  and  abode 


5  Psalm  15:  2. 

6  Psalm  51:6. 

'  Exod.  20 :  16. 

8  Prov.  23 :  23 ;  3:3;  12:19;  22 :  21 ;  Isa.  26 : 2. 

9  Hosea  4:  i- 
10  John  8 :  32. 


24     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

not  in  the  truth,  because  there  is  no  truth  in  him. 
When  he  speaketh  a  lie,  he  speaketh  of  his  own;  for 
he  is  a  liar,  and  the  father  of  it."  ^^  The  might  of 
the  truth  St.  Paul  declares :  "  We  can  do  nothing 
against  the  truth,  but  for  the  truth,"  ^^  Christians 
are  exhorted  to  "  speak  the  truth  in  love,"  and  wear 
the  girdle  of  truth.^^  In  the  Book  of  Revelation 
St.  John  states  that  there  shall  be  cast  out  of  the 
Holy  City  *'  whosoever  loveth  and  maketh  a  lie."  ^* 

Many  other  passages  might  be  cited.  The  Bible 
is  full  of  them.  Truth  here,  as  the  context  evi- 
dently shows,  does  not  mean  veracity  alone.  Still 
less  does  it  mean  adhesion  to  any  creed  or  dogma. 
In  the  individual  it  is  the  love  of  reality;  the  hatred 
of  pretence;  the  fixed  determination  to  find  and  to 
hold  fast  that  which  is  really  true.  The  Christian 
religion  is  the  most  genuine  and  real  thing  in  the 
world.  It  seems  incredible  that  Christian  people 
should  read  the  Bible  and  think  they  believe  in  it, 
and  so  often  shrink  from  adherence  to  this  funda- 
mental principle  of  truth. 

There  are  many  cases  in  life  in  which  it  seems 
either  that  the  truth  is  dangerous,  or  that  for  the 
time  being  falsehood  would  serve  a  better  pur- 
pose. Many  men  with  good  intentions  have  shrunk 
from  loyalty  to  the  truth,  and  have  presented  false- 
hood in  what  seemed  to  them  an  attractive  guise, 
thinking  thereby  to  accomplish  some  good  end.  To 
those  who  thus  do  evil  that  good  may  come,  the 
Apostle  declares  that  their  condemnation  is  just. 

"John  8:44.  "Eph.  4:  15;  6:14. 

12  2  Cor.  13 : 8.  "  Rev.  22 :  15. 


TRUTH  25 

He  says  that  it  is  a  slander  to  charge  Christian 
people  with  that  maxim/" 

The  most  notable  instances  of  the  violation  of 
this  divine  command  are  in  the  press.  Yet,  in  our 
time  it  has  become  recognized  as  the  duty  of  every 
newspaper  which  has  made  an  erroneous  statement 
to  correct  it.  This  development  in  the  moral  stand- 
ard has  been  progressive.  We  find  a  similar  de- 
velopment in  the  standard  of  legal  ethics.  A  hun- 
dred years  ago  Lord  Brougham  maintained  that  it 
was  the  duty  of  a  lawyer  to  know  no  moral  re- 
straint in  the  defence  of  his  client.  A  similar 
proposition  was  maintained  within  thirty  years  by 
so  great  a  lawyer  as  David  Dudley  Field.  But  the 
profession  has  officially  condemned  it.  The  Ameri- 
can Bar  Association  has  adopted  canons  of  ethics 
which  it  declares  are  obligatory  upon  every  lawyer. 
In  some  States  of  the  Union  these  canons  have  been 
enacted  into  statute.  In  many  of  them  it  is  re- 
quired that  they  shall  be  taught  to  law  students. 
Acquaintance  with  them  is  a  preliminary  to  their 
admission  to  the  Bar,  and  constitutes  part  of  the 
required  examination.     Canon  22  is  as  follows : 

"  It  is  unprofessional  and  dishonourable  to  deal 
other  than  candidly  with  the  facts  in  taking  the  state- 
ments of  witnesses,  and  drawing  affidavits  and  other 
documents,  and  in  the  presentation  of  cases." 

Yet  it  is  unfortunately  true  that  many  religious 
people  in  their  ardour  for  what  they  believe  to  be  a 
just  cause,  resort  to  false  statements,  and  forget 

15  Rom.  3 :  8, 


26     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

entirely  when  they  exaggerate  or  colour  facts,  that 
"  A  lie  which  is  half  a  truth  is  ever  the  blackest 
of  lies." 

Nothing  has  done  more  to  alienate  rightmindcd 
and  sincere  men  from  organized  Christianity  than 
this  evil  temper.  The  "  odium  theologicum "  is 
proverbial.  Christian  people  are  exhorted  by  St. 
Paul  "  to  do  all  things  without  murmurings  and  dis- 
putings  that  ye  may  be  blameless  and  harmless,  the 
sons  of  God."  ^^  They  are  admonished  that  "  all 
bitterness  and  anger  and  clamour  and  evil  speaking 
and  wrath  be  put  away  from  you  with  all  malice."  " 
"  Lie  not  one  to  another,"  he  cries.^^  These  com- 
mands are  constantly  forgotten  in  so-called  religious 
disputations,  and  when  men  ask,  as  they  often  do, 
why  Christianity  has  failed,  perhaps  the  best  answer 
that  has  been  made  is  that  of  Heber  Newton, — "  It 
has  never  been  tried."  We  must  acknowledge,  with 
shame,  that  it  is  truly  the  fault  of  Christian  people 
that  the  truth  of  the  gospel  has  not  been  made  more 
manifest  to  the  world.  It  was  manifested  perfectly 
in  the  life  of  Christ.  But,  alas.  His  followers  have 
fallen  far  short  of  His  example. 

These  statements  are  not  inconsistent  with  the 
conception  of  progressive  revelation,  nor  with  the 
thought  that  teaching,  which  is  adapted  for  one  race 
and  one  social  condition,  is  not  necessarily  the  best 
for  another. 

The  study  of   the   Bible  as  a  whole,   and  the 

i«Phil.  2:14,  15. 
i^Eph.  4:31. 
"Col.  3:9. 


TRUTH  27 

comparison  of  its  several  books  in  connection  with 
what  we  know  of  the  history  of  the  times  in  which 
these  books  were  written,  makes  it  clear  that  their 
revelation  is  progressive.  This  is  expressly  declared 
by  Christ  Himself.  When  the  Pharisees  asked 
Him — "  Is  it  lawful  for  a  man  to  put  away  his 
wife  ?  "  He  asked  them — "  What  did  Moses  com- 
mand you  ?  "  and  they  said,  "  Moses  suffered  to  write 
a  bill  of  divorcement,  and  to  put  her  away."  ^^ 

This  requirement  of  writing  a  bill  of  divorce- 
ment, given  by  the  husband  to  his  wife,  was  in 
itself  an  improvement  upon  the  condition  in  savage 
tribes  where  the  husband  was  at  liberty  to  turn  away 
his  wife  at  will.  To  reduce  his  decision  to  writ- 
ing, to  be  signed  by  him,  gave  at  least  some  time  for 
deliberation  and  reflection.  There  is  a  certain 
analogy  in  it  to  the  civil  service  rule  which  was 
adopted  after  much  consideration,  that  the  head  of 
an  office  who  desires  to  dismiss  a  clerk  should  give 
him  an  opportunity  to  be  heard,  and  should  state  in 
writing  his  reasons  for  the  dismissal. 

But  this  condition  of  married  life  was  to  be  tem- 
porary only.  It  was  better  than  the  savage  state, 
but  altogether  unsuitable  for  the  permanent  condi- 
tion of  man.  Christ  said  to  the  Pharisees  that 
Moses  had  permitted  it  because  of  the  hardness  of 
the  hearts  of  the  people.  He  declared  that  the  man 
should  **  leave  his  father  and  mother,  and  cleave  to 
his  wife,  and  they  twain  should  be  one  flesh;  what 
therefore  God  hath  joined  together,  let  no  man  put 
asunder."  ^^ 
19  Mark  10:4;  Deut.  24:1.     20  ]viatt.  19:5-6;  Mark  10:7-9. 


28     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

It  is  unfortunately  true  that  the  two  who  have 
thus  been  united,  afterwards  may  become  really 
severed  by  the  sin  of  one  or  the  other;  possibly 
of  both.  It  is  not  within  the  scope  of  this  present 
chapter  to  discuss  the  subject  of  divorce,  but  atten- 
tion is  drawn  to  a  fact  which  experience  shows  does 
sometimes  exist.  The  putting  asunder  in  reality 
comes  from  the  sin  of  one  of  the  married  pair. 
Whatever  may  be  rightfully  done  by  a  divorce 
court,  should  be  simply  an  authentication  by  a  com- 
petent tribunal  of  a  fact  which  already  in  reality 
exists. 

But  it  is  not  only  in  this  famous  passage  which 
has  been  the  subject  of  so  much  discussion  that  we 
are  taught  the  truth  of  progressive  revelation.  In 
His  last  great  discourse  to  His  disciples,  Jesus  said : 
*'  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye 
cannot  bear  them  now.  Howbeit  when  he,  the 
Spirit  of  truth  is  come,  he  will  guide  you  into  all 
truth."  '' 

Here  is  a  clear  statement  that  the  purpose  of 
Christ  and  of  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  w^as  from 
time  to  time  and  by  degrees  to  guide  the  disciples 
into  all  truth.  The  divine  purity  is  absolutely  free 
from  the  slightest  taint  of  untruth :  but  the 
truth  is  manifested  slowly  as  man  is  able  to  receive 
it. 

Again  St.  Paul  shows  that  in  his  dealing  with 
the  new  converts  he  found  it  the  part  of  duty  and 
wisdom  to  teach  them  gradually.  He  says  to  the 
Corinthians :  *'  I  have  fed  you  with  milk,  and  not 

21  John  i6: 12-13. 


TRUTH  29 

with  meat;  for  hitherto  ye  were  not  able  to  bear  it, 
neither  yet  now  are  ye  able."  ^^ 

The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  uses  the  same  simile. 
In  the  beginning  of  the  Christian  life  the  converts 
are  to  be  fed  with  milk ;  to  be  taught  "  the  first 
principles  of  the  oracles  of  God."  Then  when  they 
become  of  full  age  and  "  by  reason  of  use  have 
their  senses  exercised  to  discern  both  good  and 
evil,"  they  should  "  go  on  to  perfection."  ^^  Thus 
it  is  clear  from  revelation  as  well  as  from  reason 
that  the  whole  truth  cannot  be  taught  at  once,  and 
must  be  imparted  by  degrees,  *'  line  upon  line  and 
precept  upon  precept."  Yet  the  passages  already 
quoted  show  that  falsehood  is  never  to  be  taught, 
and  that  it  is  a  breach  of  Christian  duty  to  use 
falsehood  as  argument,  or  to  misrepresent  the 
character  or  conduct  of  our  adversaries. 

22  I  Cor.  3 : 2. 

23Heb.  5: 13-14;  6:1-3. 


Ill 


THE  PRESENCE  OF  GOD  IN  THE 
SOUL  OF  MAN 

FROM  the  beginning  there  have  been  two 
schools  of  thought  in  the  Christian  Church. 
Some  have  dwelt  with  more  emphasis  on  the 
presence  of  God  in  Heaven.  The  pictorial  repre- 
sentations of  His  presence  there,  in  Isaiah  and 
Ezekiel  and  in  the  Book  of  Revelation,  have  ap- 
pealed to  them. 

Other  divines  have  been  more  impressed  with 
what  has  been  called  "  the  immanence  of  the 
divine  " ;  that  is  to  say,  with  the  omnipresence  of 
God.  These  teachings  apparently  diverse,  really 
represent  two  sides  of  the  same  shield.  It  is  un- 
doubtedly true  that  both  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ment speak  of  Heaven  as  a  place  where  the  divine 
presence  and  glory  are  especially  manifested.  In 
His  last  great  discourse  to  His  disciples  on  the 
evening  of  Holy  Thursday,  Christ  said  to  them : 
"  In  my  Father's  house  are  many  mansions.  If  it 
were  not  so,  I  would  have  told  you.  I  go  to  pre- 
pare a  place  for  you.  And  if  I  go  and  prepare  a 
place  for  you,  I  will  come  again  and  receive  you 
unto  myself;  that  where  I  am,  ye  may  be  also."  ^ 

The  next  day,  on  the  Cross  He  said  to  the  peni- 

ijohn  14:2,  3. 

30 


GOD  IN  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN  31 

tent  robber  by  His  side :  "  Today  shalt  thou  be  with 
me  in  Paradise."  ^ 

In  every  generation  a  convert  comes  to  the  front 
who  thinks  he  has  discovered  something  new,  simply 
because  it  is  new  to  him.  Sir  Arthur  Conan  Doyle's 
principal  propositions  in  his  book  called  "  The  New 
Revelation,"  are,  that  death  is  only  "  birth  into  an- 
other life,"  and  that  the  human  iDeing  passes  into 
that  life  "  clothed,"  in  St.  Paul's  words,  ''  with  a 
spiritual  body,  which  is  the  counterpart  of  the 
physical  body  at  its  best.  All  fears  and  imperfec- 
tions disappear,  being  a  product  of  the  grosser 
matter  of  which  we  are  built  in  this  life." 

It  would  seem  as  if  this  description  of  the  spirit- 
ual body  is  a  natural  inference  from  what  St.  Paul 
says  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of  the  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians.  One  hundred  years  ago  a  great  poet 
who  was  also  a  great  spiritual  teacher  put  that 
thought  into  verse. 

In  "  Laodamia  "  Wordsworth  describes  the  hero 
who  returned  from  his  life  beyond  the  grave,  in  the 
likeness  of  his  appearance  upon  earth. 

"  In  his  deportment,  shape  and  mien  appeared, 
Elysian  beauty." 

"  Redundant  arc  thy  locks,  thy  lips  as  fair, 
As  when  their  breath  enriched  Thessalian  air." 

He 

"  Spake  as  a  witness  of  a  second  birth. 
For  all  that  is  most  perfect  upon  earth, 

2  Luke  23:43. 


Z2     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

Of  all  that  is  most  beauteous,  imaged  there 
In  happier  beauty,  more  pellucid  streams, 
An  ampler  ether,  a  diviner  air, 
And  fields  invested  with  purpureal  gleams, 
Climes  which  the  sun  who  sheds  the  brightest  day- 
Earth  knows,  is  all  unworthy  to  survey."  ^ 

As  for  Sir  Arthur's  thought  that  death  is  birth 
into  another  life,  that  ''people  go  over  with  the 
same  intellectual  and  ethical  equipment  as  on  earth," 
that  is  the  keynote  of  Browning's  poem  of  Easter 
Day.  How  indeed  could  it  well  be  otherwise,  if  the 
life  beyond  the  grave  is  the  continuation  of  this? 

It  is  indeed  satisfactory  to  find  that  this  keen 
observer  and  diligent  student  of  history  should  have 
drawn  from  his  study  of  psychical  phenomena  the 
same  conclusions  that  these  poets  drew  from  the 
study  of  the  Bible  and  human  experience. 

It  may  be  said  that  these  authors  were  poets. 
They  were,  but  they  were  also  men  of  genius  with 
spiritual  insight.  Even  in  the  most  serious  scien- 
tific studies  genius  leads  the  way.  This  insight 
often  discovers  great  truths,  as  Lord  Lister  did  in 
his  antiseptic  treatment,  before  these  truths  are  veri- 
fied by  experiment.  As  Doctor  Wrench  says  in  his 
"Life  of  Lister": 

"  It  is  the  ability  of  genius  that  rescues  *  petty 
mortals '  from  the  labyrinth  of  confusion  in  which 
they  involve  themselves  in  attempting  to  solve  or  even 
to  find  a  safe  path  through  the  mysteries  and  difficul- 
ties of  life.  Genius  makes  the  tortuous  path  straight 
and  the  complex  simple." 

3  We  quote  from  the  Boston  edition  of  1824:  Vol.  I,  p.  165. 
Two  of  the  lines  are  changed  in  later  editions. 


GOD  IN  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN  33 

These  beautiful  visions  are  not  inconsistent 
with  the  teaching  that  God  is  now  present  here  on 
earth  and  dwells  in  the  soul  of  man.  This  truth  is 
revealed  both  in  the  New  Testament  and  in  the  Old. 
In  Leviticus  the  Lord  declares :  "  I  will  w^alk  among 
you  and  be  your  God  and  ye  shall  be  my  people."  * 
In  the  Book  of  Exodus  the  same  thought  is  ex- 
pressed: "  I  will  dwell  among  the  children  of  Israel 
and  will  be  their  God."  ^ 

These  promises  are  extended  by  the  prophets  to 
nations  other  than  the  Hebrews.  The  later  chapters 
of  Isaiah  are  full  of  this  gracious  assurance.  The 
Lord  declares  to  His  suffering  servant :  "  It  is  too 
light  a  thing  that  thou  shouldest  be  my  servant  to 
raise  up  the  tribes  of  Jacob,  and  to  restore  the 
preserved  of  Israel;  I  will  also  give  thee  for  a  light 
to  the  Gentiles,  that  thou  mayest  be  my  salvation 
unto  the  ends  of  the  earth."  ^ 

In  language  of  infinite  tenderness  it  is  declared 
that  the  Lord  loves  His  people  more  tenderly  than 
the  mother  her  sucking  child.  *'  As  one  whom  his 
mother  comforteth,  so  will  I  comfort  you."  "  For 
the  mountains  may  depart,  and  the  hills  be  removed  ; 
but  my  lovingkindness  shall  not  depart  from  thee, 
neither  shall  my  covenant  of  peace  be  removed, 
saith  the  Lord,  that  hath  mercy  on  thee."  ^ 

Probably  these  promises,  when  they  were  first 
made,  appealed  especially  to  the  Hebrews.  But  the 
language  already  quoted  shows  that  it  was  part  of 
the  prophetic  vision  to  reveal  them  to  all  nations. 

4  Lev.  26:12.  «  Isa.  49 :  6,  R.  V. 

5  Exod.  30 :  45.  "^  Isa.  49 :  14,  i5 ;  54 :  10 ;  66 :  13,  R.  V. 


34     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

The  Hebrews,  however,  were  slow  to  receive  this 
teaching  of  their  great  prophets.  The  conviction 
that  they  were  especially  the  people  chosen  of  God 
was  too  strong.  Even  in  the  first  century  of  the 
Christian  era,  over  six  hundred  years  after  Isaiah 
had  prophesied,  it  was  strange  to  them  that  "  the 
Gentiles  should  be  fellow  heirs  and  of  the  same  body 
and  partakers  of  his  promise  in  Christ  by  the 
gospel."  ^  All  experience  shows  how  easy  it  is  for 
the  human  mind  to  accept  theoretically  the  authority 
of  a  law  or  a  teacher,  and  yet  fail  entirely  to  obey 
the  teaching.  That  was  Christ's  pathetic  appeal — 
"  Why  call  ye  me  Lord,  Lord,  and  do  not  the  things 
which  I  say?"'^  In  both  Testaments  it  is  plainly 
declared :  "  To  do  justice  and  judgment  is  more 
acceptable  to  the  Lord  than  sacrifice."  ^"  Yet 
religious  people  are  prone  to  forget  this,  and  to 
lay  undue  emphasis  on  the  outward  observances 
which,  for  us,  correspond  to  the  Jewish  sacrifices. 

After  this  short  digression,  we  return  to  the 
immediate  topic  of  this  chapter.  When  the  divine 
promise  is  repeated  that  God  will  enter  the  human 
heart,  and  abide  there,  when  the  door  is  opened  to 
receive  the  divine  visitor,  it  is  natural  to  repeat 
the  question  of  Solomon  in  his  wonderful  prayer  at 
the  dedication  of  the  Temple :  "  Will  God,  in  very 
deed,  dwell  with  men  on  the  earth?  "  ^^ 

When  in  the  evening  before  the  crucifixion,  St. 
Thomas  pathetically  asked,  ''  How  can  we  know  the 

8  Eph.  3:6. 

»  Luke  6 :  46. 

10  Prov.  21:3:  Hosea  6:6;  Matt.  12 : 7. 
JI2  Chron.  6:18. 


GOD  IN  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN  35 

way  ?  "  Jesus  answered  :  "  I  am  the  Way,  the  Truth, 
and  the  Life;  no  man  cometh  unto  the  Father,  but 
by  me.  .  .  .  From  henceforth  ye  know  him,  and 
have  seen  him." 

But  we,  in  this  twentieth  century,  do  not  see 
Christ  with  our  eyes  of  sense,  and  the  question  of 
St.  Thomas  constantly  recurs:  How  can  we  know 
the  way? 

The  Christian  Church  has  the  answer.  In  the  old 
Epiphany  Collect  which  the  Anglican  churches  re- 
tain in  their  liturgy  we  pray :  "  Grant  that  we,  who 
know  Thee  now  by  faith,  may  after  this  life  have 
the  fruition  of  Thy  glorious  Godhead." 

Here  the  Church  for  many  centuries  has  assured 
us  that  we  may  know  God  by  faith.  What  is  meant 
in  this  connection  by  faith?  Clearly  that  spiritual 
faculty  in  man  by  which  he  comes  into  union  with 
God  and  becomes  "  partaker  of  the  divine  nature  " 
(as  the  apostle  tells  us)  and  thus  escapes  the  cor- 
ruption that  is  in  the  world  through  greedy  desires 
and  selfish  passions. 

It  is  common  to  speak  as  Tennyson  does,  in  a 
famous  passage  of  "  In  Memoriam,"  of  knowledge 
as  being  limited  to  the  result  of  the  perceptions  or 
the  senses.  "  Knowledge,"  he  says,  "  is  of  things 
we  see."  But  any  one  who  studies  human  experi- 
ence knows  that  this  is  but  one,  and  perhaps  the 
least  important,  kind  of  knowledge.  The  faculty 
by  which  we  become  conscious  of  the  love  of  father 
and  mother,  of  wife  and  children,  and  of  friends, 
is  akin  to  the  faculty  by  which  we  become  con- 
scious of  the  existence  and  love  of  God.    He  that 


36     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

loveth  God  will  love  his  brother  also.  The  percep- 
tions and  assurances  of  that  side  of  human  nature 
are  just  as  reliable  as  perceptions  of  the  eye  or  of 
the  touch. 

Throughout  the  world,  there  are  numberless  men 
and  women  who  are  sensible  of  the  being  and  love 
of  God.  They  know  God;  not  by  what  they  think 
of  Him  or  conjecture  about  Him,  but  by  their  own 
consciousness  of  His  presence,  His  power,  and  His 
goodness.  This  consciousness  is  as  distinct  and 
real  as  their  consciousness  of  the  presence  and  love 
of  father,  or  brother,  or  child.  He  comforts  them  in 
trouble,  gives  them  strength  in  weakness,  inspires 
them  with  resolution  to  plan  and  courage  to  achieve 
the  most  difficult  undertakings ;  even  the  conquest  of 
selfishness,  which  is  the  hardest  of  all. 

Why  is  not  this  affirmation  of  the  consciousness 
of  so  many  witnesses  truly  knowledge?  Some  may 
not  have  felt  it.  Whatever  intellectual  opinion  they 
may  have  about  the  being  of  God,  if  they  are  not 
conscious  of  His  presence  and  love,  they  do  not 
know  Him.  But  why  doubt  the  knowledge  of  the 
thousands  who  do.  Why  is  it  not  as  authentic  as 
the  knowledge  of  the  material  world  that  some  men 
attain  by  long  years  of  study?  The  ordinary  man 
cannot  verify  their  processes,  but  accepts  the  result. 
Why  not  accept  the  experience  of  those  who  know 
and  love  God? 

A  man  may  reply  that  these  do  not  agree,  and  that 
the  diversity  of  their  experience  takes  away  the  credit 
that  might  otherwise  attach  to  it.  But  is  the  experi- 
ence referred  to  so  diverse?    There  are  innumerable 


GOD  IN  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN  37 

opinions  and  speculations  about  the  divine  being. 
These  are  as  different  as  the  opinions  about  the 
organs  of  the  human  body  were  before  it  was  actu- 
ally examined  and  observed ;  as  different  as  the  opin- 
ions about  the  heavenly  bodies,  before  Galileo  and 
Copernicus  and  their  successors  accurately  observed 
the  heavens.  All  of  which  simply  show^s  that  specu- 
lative opinions  differ  as  much  as  individual  minds. 
But  when  we  come  to  collate  the  results  of  the  con- 
sciousness of  those  who  know  and  love  God,  we 
find  them  in  substantial  agreement.  Nothing  shows 
this  more  plainly  than  the  fact  that  they  use  and 
enjoy  the  same  hymns  of  love  and  praise,  though 
their  books  of  dogmatic  theology  dift'er.  In  the 
hymnals  of  various  Christian  churches  are  to  be 
found  hymns  written  by  Greeks,  by  Latins,  by 
Anglicans,  Presbyterians,  Methodists,  and  Unita- 
rians.   As  Principal  Fairbairn  justly  says :  ^^ 

"  This  unity  In  praise  and  worship  which  so 
transcends  and  cancels  the  distinctions  of  community 
and  sect,  but  expresses  the  unity  of  the  faith  and  fel- 
lowship of  the  heart  in  the  Son  of  God.  In  the  re- 
gions of  the  higher  devotion  and  the  purer  love  all 
differences  cease." 

But  it  may  be  asked.  How  do  you  discriminate 
between  the  spiritual  perception  of  one  and  the  wild 
visions  of  another?  Which  is  the  authentic  evi- 
dence on  which  you  ask  us  to  rely?  We  answer — 
Divine  knowledge,  like  all  other  knowledge,  is  pro- 
gressive.   It  must  be  learned  gradually,  by  faithful 

12  Fairbairn,  "The  Place  of  Christ  in  Modern  Theology," 
p.  20. 


38     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

endeavour,  and  after  long  experience.  Doubtless  to 
some  it  comes  more  readily  than  to  others. 

As  with  the  individual,  so  with  the  race.  For 
centuries,  God  had  been  educating  man  and  pre- 
paring him  for  the  fuller  perception  of  spiritual 
truth.  He  did  not  leave  Himself  without  witness 
among  men.  But  not  until  Christ  came  into  the 
world  did  the  race  perceive  what  was  possible  to 
man.  Christ  showed  in  His  own  person  that  it  was 
possible  for  man  to  perceive  divine  truth,  and  to  be 
transfigured  by  it.  His  life  was  full  of  beauty  and 
power.  Metaphysical  discussions  about  His  nature 
have  somewhat  obscured  the  truth  He  taught,  that 
man  could  become  partaker  of  the  divine  nature, 
that  God  would  dwell  in  him,  and  he  in  God.  This 
is  the  true  and  vital  significance  of  the  Incarnation. 
In  the  world  of  spiritual  knowledge  Christ  fills  the 
place  that  Copernicus  and  Newton  do  in  astronomy. 
Like  Columbus,  He  gave  to  man  a  new  world.  And 
if  the  seeker  after  spiritual  truth  is  willing  modestly 
to  learn  of  Christ,  he  will  know  by  his  own  experi- 
ence the  truth  of  what  Christ  taught. 

The  possibility  of  a  divine  life  in  man,  that  was 
revealed  by  the  life  of  Christ;  the  extent  of  the 
knowledge  of  divine  truth  to  which  Christ  showed 
that  man  might  aspire,  henceforth  became  the  basis 
of  all  genuine  spiritual  life  and  truth.  He  revealed 
it,  and  the  experience  of  man  verifies  it. 

Here  we  anticipate  two  objections — one  from  the 
doubter,  and  one  from  the  orthodox  member  of 
some  Christian  organization. 

The   doubter   may    say — Doubtless    the   life   of 


GOD  IN  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN  39 

Christ  is  admirable.  But  the  lives  of  His  professed 
followers  do  not  satisfy  my  ideal.  Theirs  is  the 
converse  of  His.  He  was  serene,  they  are  disputa- 
tious; He  was  self-denying,  they  are  greedy  and 
selfish;  He  was  brave  and  tranquil  amid  all  His 
sufferings,  they  are  worried  and  anxious;  He  told 
Peter  to  put  up  his  sword,  but  they  have  tried  to 
spread  religion  by  fire  and  sword.  It  is  with  sorrow 
that  the  Christian  must  admit  there  is  truth  in  this 
objection.  The  only  answer  is  that  the  m.en  of 
whom  the  objector  speaks  were  either  not  real 
Christians  or  very  imperfect  ones.  They  did  not 
know  the  truth  from  their  own  experience.  They 
may  have  believed  in  Christ  as  an  historic  person- 
age, and  even  given  intellectual  assent  to  the  cor- 
rectness of  His  doctrine.  But  their  hearts  were  not 
enlightened,  their  wills  were  not  guided. 

All  this  Christ  plainly  predicted.  No  teacher 
ever  cared  so  little  for  formal  assent  or  outward 
show.  The  people  He  talked  to  were  always  asking 
for  some  external  and  material  manifestation  of 
the  kingdom  of  God.  And  He  always  answered, 
"  The  Kingdom  of  God  is  within  you."  It  was  the 
man  who  would  do  His  will  that  should  know  of  the 
doctrine. 

Hence  this  objection  when  rightly  considered  is 
a  proof  of  the  truth  of  Christ's  teaching.  Neverthe- 
less it  must  be  admitted,  and  all  professed  Chris- 
tians should  take  it  to  heart,  that  the  inconsistency 
of  their  lives  and  the  selfishness  of  their  conduct  are 
the  greatest  hindrance  to  the  more  general  knowl- 
edge of  Christian  truth. 


40     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

The  other  objection  from  the  orthodox  is  this : 
What  do  you  make  of  the  Christian  Church?  You 
seem  to  attach  all  importance  to  the  individual  con- 
sciousness. Would  you  rest  the  truth  solely  upon 
the  conviction  of  one  man,  however  sincere  or 
earnest? 

To  which  we  answer — Certainly  not.  It  is  the 
experience  of  many,  in  every  generation  since  the 
birth  of  Christ.  And  who  are  these  men?  They 
are,  as  the  Episcopal  Church  says  in  the  Communion 
Office :  "  very  members  incorporate  in  the  mystical 
body  of  thy  Son,  which  is  the  blessed  company  of 
all  faithful  people  " — the  true  Church,  made  up  of 
Christians  of  every  name — known  well  to  the  Lord. 

Organization  is  necessary  and  useful.  But  every 
organization — political,  philanthropic,  or  religious — 
has  its  dangers.  The  greatest  is  that  the  members 
of  the  organization  shall  come  to  look  upon  it  as 
more  important  than  the  truth  it  w^as  formed  to 
teach.  And  then  man  falls  into  surprising  estrange- 
ment. Take  for  example  the  life  of  Philip  the 
Second.  This  was  diametrically  opposed  to  the  life 
of  Christ.  Yet  he  was  a  rigorous  observer  of  the 
exterior  requirements  of  the  organization  to  which 
he  belonged.  To  him  the  organization  was  all,  its 
vital  principles  nothing.  And  so  he  became  the 
embodiment  of  all  that  is  cruel,  selfish,  and  lawless 
in  human  nature. 

The  higher  the  value  that  any  one  sets  upon  the 
Christian  Church,  as  an  organization,  the  more  sen- 
sible he  ought  to  be  of  the  responsibility  which  de- 
volves upon  each  of  its  members.    '*  By  their  fruits 


GOD  IN  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN  41 

ye  shall  know  them.'*  If  the  fruits  are  not  Christ- 
like, we  may  be  sure  that  the  individual  is  at  least 
very  backward  and  has  much  to  learn.  Therefore 
it  is  that  we  emphasize  for  the  individual,  and  most 
of  all  for  those  who  are  in  communion  with  Chris- 
tian churches,  the  necessity  of  that  personal 
knowledge  of  divine  and  spiritual  truths  which 
strengthens  and  directs  the  will  to  the  practice  of 
the  Christian  virtues. 

For  there  is  a  distinct  type  of  virtue,  which  Christ 
was  the  first  to  manifest  fully,  and  which  is  not  hard 
to  recognize.  Instances  might  be  taken  from  every 
Christian  communion.  Let  us  mention  one  whom 
all  churches  have  delighted  to  honour,  Fenelon,  the 
Roman  Catholic  Archbishop  of  Cambrai.  His  writ- 
ings and  life  evince  the  same  sweetness  of  temper, 
serenity  of  soul,  keen  discrimination  of  moral  and 
religious  truth,  and  steadfast  courage  in  its  ad- 
vocacy that  are  characteristic  of  Christ.  This  was 
so  well  recognized  that  when  Marlborough's  army 
invaded  that  part  of  France,  their  leader  com- 
manded that  Fenelon's  house  and  its  contents 
should  be  preserved  intact. 

As  Milton  says : 

"  The  great  Emathian  conqueror  bade  spare 
The  house  of  Pindarus,  when  temple  and  tower 
Went  to  the  ground." 

Great  teachers  before  Christ  had  said  wise  things, 
but  He  spoke  with  power  that  is  still  mighty  even 
in  the  weakest  of  His  true  disciples.  This  percep- 
tion of  divine  truth  is  the  unspeakable  gift  of  the 
Spirit  of  God.    It  compels  loving  obedience,  it  frees 


42     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

the  heart  from  a  thousand  burdens  and  leads  the 
soul  into  the  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God. 
It  is  the  parent  of  generous  and  unselfish  thoughts 
and  noble  and  helpful  actions.  Some,  no  doubt, 
have  keener  perception  of  this  truth  than  others. 
But  it  is  possible  for  every  one  to  have  some  knowl- 
edge of  it.  Witnesses  whom  no  man  can  number 
have  found  this  the  most  precious  possession  to 
which  man  can  attain,  and  therefore  best  worth 
striving  for.  To  him  who  doubts  they  reply: 
"  Come  and  see."  And  those  that  hearken  to  the 
teachings  of  Christ  and  enter  into  communion  with 
Him  will  learn  to  declare  as  believers  have  from 
the  beginning :  "  Now  we  believe,  not  because  of  Thy 
saying,  for  we  have  heard  Him  ourselves,  and  know 
that  this  is  indeed  the  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the 
world.'' 

Nineteen  centuries  after  these  words  were  spoken 
another  believer,  Phillips  Brooks,  put  the  same 
thought  into  modern  phrase.  He,  too,  had  seen 
Christ,  not  with  outward  eyes,  but  with  inward  and 
spiritual  vision.  In  one  of  his  letters  he  writes  from 
his  own  actual  experience : 

"  These  last  years  have  had  a  peace  and  fulness 
which  there  did  not  use  to  be.  I  say  it  in  deep 
reverence  and  humility.  I  am  sure  that  it  is  a  deeper 
knowledge  and  truer  love  of  Christ.  I  cannot  tell 
you  how  personal  this  grows  to  me.  He  is  here.  He 
knows  me  and  I  know  Him.  It  is  no  figure  of  speech. 
It  is  the  realest  thing  in  the  world  and  every  day 
makes  it  realer,  and  one  wonders  with  delight  what 
it  will  grow  to  as  the  years  go  on." 


GOD  IN  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN  43 

When  we  reach  this  point  we  perceive  that  there 
is  no  real  conflict  between  science  and  reHgion. 
Any  religion  which  deserves  that  name  seeks  to  pro- 
duce communion  or  intercourse  between  the  soul  of 
man  and  God.  It  implies  and  indeed  teaches  that 
man  can  know  and  love  God,  can  realize  His  pres- 
ence, and  be  taught  by  Him.  And  this  implies  that 
the  Deity  is  a  personal  God,  who  can  choose  and 
love. 

The  scientific  man  studies  animals  and  plants  and 
inorganic  matter.  He  finds  them  governed  by  fixed 
laws.  So  far  as  he  is  able  to  discover  there  is 
no  variation  from  these  laws.  He  is  not  likely  to 
be  an  atheist,  but  he  is  apt  to  conclude  with  Lucre- 
tius that  "  Nature  is  seen  to  do  all  things  spon- 
taneously, of  herself,  without  the  intermeddling  of 
the  Gods.''  In  other  words,  that  the  Creator  set 
matter  in  motion  and  fixed  a  law  for  its  direction 
which  should  forever  control  it  and  withdrew  from 
all  further  ''  intermeddling."  This  be  it  observed, 
is  not  science,  but  only  the  inference  or  guess  of  a 
scientific  man — a  very  different  thing. 

Now  the  fault  that  religious  men,  more  or  less 
clearly,  find  with  this  inference  or  guess  is  this. 
It  leaves  out  of  view  entirely  the  experience  of  men, 
derived  from  intercourse  with  each  other.  All 
human  life  is  based  on  the  consciousness  that  man 
is  capable  of  choice  and  affection — that  he  can  bal- 
ance probabilities,  and  weigh  motives — that  he  can 
learn  that  there  is  such  a  thing  as  the  right,  and 
another  and  opposite  thing — the  wrong;  and  can 
learn  to  love  and  follow  the  one  and  hate  and  avoid 


44     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

the  other.  The  consciousness  of  the  race  assures 
us  of  all  this.  We  know  it  as  certainly  as  we  know 
that  the  sun  shines,  or  that  two  and  two  make  four. 
A  man  may  reason  himself  into  maintaining  the 
proposition  that  he  is  a  mere  machine,  governed 
by  an  unchangeable  external  law  or  fate,  and  deter- 
mined always  by  the  strongest  motives.  But  all  the 
while  he  knows  this  is  not  true,  and  he  never  acts 
upon  any  such  theory.  The  only  people  that  do 
are  the  lunatics. 

Now  if  from  the  uniformity  of  nature  a  scien- 
tific man  infers  the  God  of  Epicurus;  the  man  who 
is  versed  in  the  study  of  mankind  will  rather  infer 
that  God  is  a  being  of  love  and  choice.  Professor 
Tyndall  finds  fault  with  anthropomorphic  concep- 
tions of  the  Deity.  But  what  is  there  in  the  form  of 
the  external  world  from  which  the  idea  of  God  can 
so  justly  be  drawn,  as  from  all  we  know  that  is  best 
and  loveliest  in  man?  Nature  is  bigger  than  we, 
but  we  are  greater  than  it.  A  God  who  could  not 
choose  and  could  not  love  might  be  more  powerful 
than  man.  So  is  a  locomotive  or  a  steamship.  But 
he  would  be  infinitely  lower  in  the  scale  of  being; 
just  as  these  machines  are. 

When  we  go  farther  than  this  and  examine  the 
experience  of  religious  men  we  are  assured  by  in- 
numerable persons  of  all  classes  and  in  all  ages,  that 
they  have  known  God,  have  felt  in  their  hearts  His 
power  and  His  love,  and  have  been  directed  and 
guided  by  Him.  Make  all  the  deductions  for  igno- 
rance and  self-deception  that  can  reasonably  be 
asked.     There  remains  this  great  fact  in  human 


GOD  IN  THE  SOUL  OF  MAN  45 

experience,  and  the  theory  of  Lucretius  does  not 
account  for  it.  Our  knowledge  of  the  external 
world  rests  on  no  better  foundation.  For  that  too 
we  can  only  say  that  the  mind  declares  to  itself  that 
it  can  rely  upon  the  eye,  or  the  ear,  or  some  other 
of  the  bodily  organs,  which  the  mind  controls. 

In  short,  Lucretius  believed  that  God  either  is, 
or  has  made,  a  uniform  law  which  governs  all 
things  inexorably,  and  that  God  has  no  further  con- 
cern with  men  or  their  affairs.  Religious  men  be- 
lieve that  God  is  a  person,  who  can  and  does  choose 
and  love,  who  cares  for  and  loves  mankind  and  can 
be  known  and  loved  by  them.  This  is  commonly 
called  the  conflict  between  science  and  religion.  It 
is  really  the  conflict  between  the  inferences  of  scien- 
tific men  and  the  experience  of  religious  men. 


IV 

PRAYER 

IN  the  conduct  of  life  it  is  of  the  first  im- 
portance to  fix  clearly  in  the  mind  and  heart 
the  essential  principles  of  human  action.  This 
is  true  in  business,  in  politics,  in  all  professions,  and 
most  of  all  in  religion.  The  failure  to  observe  this 
rule  has  produced  many  of  the  difficulties  which 
perplex  thoughtful  men.  In  no  case  is  this  more 
obvious  than  in  prayer,  the  subject  of  this  chapter. 
The  distinctive  feature  of  the  teaching  both  of 
the  Old  Testament  and  of  the  New  is  that  of  one 
personal  God.  Thoughtful  men  have  conceived  of 
God  as  "  the  power  above  ourselves  which  makes 
for  righteousness."  This  is  true  as  far  as  it  goes. 
But  it  falls  vefy  far  short  of  the  teaching  of  Reve- 
lation. The  God  of  the  Bible  is  a  Person  who  loves, 
who  creates,  who  gives  to  His  creatures  the  power 
of  choice,  in  order  that  they  may  be  intelligent  be- 
ings, and  not  mere  machines,  blesses  them  when 
they  choose  well,  and  brings  suffering  upon  them  if 
they  choose  ill.  The  great  poet  Goethe,  who  is 
also  a  wise  philosopher,  expresses  the  latter  thought 
in  the  well-known  line :  ^ 

r 

"  Every  sin  brings  its  own  punishment  upon  earth." 

1  Alle  Schuld  racht  sich  auf  Erden. 
46 


PRAYER  47 

But  this  truth  is  in  no  wise  inconsistent  with  the 
conception  of  divine  law.  When  we  speak  of  God 
as  a  Person,  we  do  not  at  all  imply  that  He  is  arbi- 
trary. He  acts  in  accordance  with  the  laws  which 
He  Himself  has  made.  In  our  human  relations,  we 
expect  the  law- givers  to  conform  to  their  own  laws. 
The  same  is  true  in  the  divine  economy.  Words- 
worth expresses  this  thought : 

"  Submission,  constituting  strength  and  power, 
Even  to  Thy  being's  infinite  majesty." 

But  in  the  divine  realm,  as  in  human  affairs,  sub- 
mission to  law  does  not  at  all  imply  a  merely 
mechanical  system.  The  world  is  not  like  a  clock, 
a  mere  piece  of  machinery  to  be  wound  up  and 
to  run  as  long  as  the  spring  continues  to  uncoil,  or 
the  weights  to  fall.  The  very  conception  of  the 
divine  presence,  as  well  as  of  the  human  presence, 
implies  the  power  to  use  these  laws  for  purposes, 
which  transcend  the  ordinary  operation  of  law.  Of 
this  there  are  innumerable  instances.  A  few  will 
suffice.  A  man  left  to  himself  in  the  air  will  drop 
to  the  earth.  Yet,  man  has  constructed  machines, 
by  the  operation  of  which  he  is  able  to  fly  above  the 
highest  mountains.  The  human  voice  in  its  great- 
est power  cannot  be  heard  for  the  distance  of  a 
mile,  yet,  man  has  availed  himself  of  the  electric 
force,  and  has  so  adapted  it  to  his  wants,  that  he 
can  be  heard,  and  the  inflections  of  his  voice  dis- 
tinguished at  a  distance  of  three  thousand  miles. 
These  activities  of  man  are  not  in  opposition  to  law. 
But  in  a  very  real  sense  they  transcend  law.    That 


48     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

is  to  say,  they  accomplish  results  which,  according 
to  the  ordinary  operations  of  law,  are  impossible. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  power  of  prayer.  The 
more  fully  we  believe  in  a  personal,  loving  Father, 
the  more  we  believe  in  the  power  of  prayer  and 
realize  its  value. 

In  the  previous  chapter,  it  has  been  shown  that 
revelation  teaches,  and  experience  confirms  that  it  is 
possible  for  the  human  person  to  become  acquainted 
with  the  divine  Person;  to  enter  into  friendly  rela- 
tion with  Him,  to  become  conscious  of  ITis  per- 
sonal presence  and  love.  Hence,  it  follows  that  the 
infinite  being  and  the  finite  being  can  converse  to- 
gether. In  the  Book  of  Exodus  it  is  said  that,  "  the 
Lord  spake  unto  Moses  face  to  face,  as  a  man 
speaketh  unto  his  friend."  ^ 

This  communication  between  the  divine  and  the 
human,  between  God  and  man,  is  prayer.  Prayer 
is  frequently  conceived  as  the  asking  for  some 
favour.  But  this  is  a  very  small  part  of  true  prayer. 
If  we  would  only  realize  the  love  and  the  presence 
of  God,  and  that  man  can  love  and  talk  with  God, 
as  a  man  speaketh  with  his  friend,  just  as  truly  as 
he  could  three  thousand  years  ago,  we  would  see 
that  the  asking  of  favours  has  a  very  small  part  in 
this  converse.  When  we  talk  with  our  human 
friends  we  do,  no  doubt,  often  ask  favours  of  them, 
but  much  more  frequently  do  we  express  to  them 
our  thoughts  and  feelings,  and  receive  from  them 
the  expression  of  their  love  and  sympathy.  This  is 
indeed  the  most  endearing  part  of  friendship. 
*Exod.  33:  II.    A  similar  expression  is  used  in  Num.  14: 14, 


PRAYER  49 

When  we  take  this  view  of  prayer,  the  difficul- 
ties that  have  been  raised  respecting  its  supposed 
interference  with  the  law  of  God,  and  the  supposed 
dictation  by  man  to  God,  disappear.  When  we  truly 
pray,  we  express  to  God  our  thoughts,  our  feelings, 
our  desires.  At  the  same  time  we  realize  that  God 
is  wiser  than  we,  and  that  our  wisdom  is  small 
compared  with  His.  We  know  His  love,  and  that 
He  will  give  us  whatever  we  need  in  His  own  good 
time,  and  according  to  His  infinite  wasdom.  But 
we  delight  to  express  our  feelings  and  our  desires, 
knowing  that  they  also  enter  into  His  plan,  and  are 
taken  into  account  by  Him.  This  is  most  fully 
expressed  by  St.  John :  "  This  is  the  confidence  that 
we  have  in  him,  that,  if  we  ask  anything  according 
to  his  will,  he  heareth  us;  and  if  we  know  that  he 
hear  us,  whatsoever  we  ask,  we  know  that  we  have 
the  petitions  that  we  desired  of  him."  ^ 

There  is  perhaps  no  part  of  the  Christian  life  in 
connection  with  which  it  is  more  important  to  con- 
strue various  promises  of  Scripture  together,  and 
to  refrain  from  dwelling  upon  the  literal  sense  of 
isolated  passages,  than  in  this  matter  of  prayer. 
For  example,  when  Christ  says  in  the  Sermon  on 
the  Mount :  '*  Ask,  and  it  shall  be  given  you ;  seek, 
and  ye  shall  find ;  knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto 
you."*  And  when  our  Lord  continues,  "If  ye 
then,  being  evil,  know  how  to  give  good  gifts  unto 
your  children,  how  much  more  shall  your  Father 
which  is  in  heaven  give  good  things  to  them  that 
ask  him,"  we  need  not  suppose  that  Christ  prom- 
«  I  John  5 :  14-15.  *  Matt.  7 :  7. 


50     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

ises  that  the  human  will  should  control  the  wisdom 
of  God.  In  the  same  great  discourse,  He  bids  us 
pray,  "  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth,  as  it  is  in 
heaven."  ^ 

Thus  we  see  that  the  prayer  explains  the  promise. 
We  are  to  ask  for  the  good  things  which  we  think 
we  need.  In  the  same  prayer  we  submit  ourselves 
gladly  to  the  will  of  God,  knowing  that  His  will  is 
infinitely  wiser  than  ours. 

These  considerations  should  relieve  the  difficulties 
of  the  good  men  who  scruple,  for  example,  to  pray 
for  rain.  In  the  liturgies  of  different  churches  the 
thought  is  expressed  diversely.  One  old  collect  thus 
expresses  the  Christian  thought : 

"  O  God,  heavenly  Father,  who,  by  Thy  Son,  Jesus 
Christ,  has  promised  to  all  those  who  seek  Thy  king- 
dom, and  the  righteousness  thereof,  all  things  necessary 
to  their  bodily  sustenance ;  Send  us,  we  beseech  Thee, 
in  this  our  necessity,  such  moderate  rain  and  showers, 
that  we  may  receive  the  fruits  of  the  earth  to  our 
comfort,  and  to  Thy  honour;  through  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord." 

This  prayer,  which  expresses  the  thought  and 
feeling  of  Christian  churches  in  many  centuries, 
tells  the  Almighty  Power  of  the  needs  of  His  crea- 
tures, and,  in  submission  to  His  will,  asks  for 
relief. 

The  author  may  be  permitted  to  recall  an  experi- 
ence in  191 1.  The  autumn  had  been  very  dry,  a 
fire  broke  out  in  the  mountain  forests.    The  flames 

5  Matt,  6:  10, 


PRAYER  51 

leaped  high,  and  it  seemed  that  no  human  power 
could  check  their  course.  It  was  an  awful  spec- 
tacle. The  instinct  of  many  was  to  ask  the  Father 
to  send  rain,  and  put  out  the  conflagration.  All 
that  human  skill  could  do,  was  done.  But  it  was 
inadequate.  The  fire  was  mightier  than  the  power 
of  man.  The  next  day  there  came  such  a  storm  as 
Job  describes,  which  he  felt  himself  unable  to  ex- 
plain, and  which  he  attributed  to  the  divine  power. 
We  have  learned  much  since  his  time,  but  we  have 
not  learned  how  to  explain  such  storms.  Never- 
theless, in  ways  we  cannot  understand,  it  did  come. 
The  fire  was  extinguished,  and  we  thanked  God 
for  doing  what  we  had  asked  Him  to  do. 

One  of  the  objections  that  is  taken  by  those  who 
doubt  the  efficacy  of  prayer,  is  to  ask  why  God 
does  not  always  answer  our  prayers.  To  this  the 
reply  is  simple.  He  is  wiser  than  we.  We  do  not 
pretend  to  explain  the  divine  conduct  or  to  set 
bounds  to  the  divine  wisdom.  But  we  do  know 
that  human  beings  who  have  formed  the  habit  of 
praying  to  the  Father,  whom  we  love,  and  to  whose 
infinite  wisdom  we  gladly  submit,  do  find  an  answer. 
It  is  indeed  through  prayer  that  we  come  to  realize 
the  divine  presence  and  love.  This  is  the  first  and 
best  of  all  answers,  and  when  we  ask  specifically 
for  some  good  thing,  as  the  child  asks  of  his  human 
father,  we  sometimes  receive,  sometimes  we  do  not. 
In  either  case  the  father's  judgment  controls. 

One  cannot  lay  too  much  emphasis  upon  the  sub- 
missive spirit  which  can  pervade  the  most  earnest 
prayer.    Some  of  the  great  moralists  teach  us  that 


52      A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

sometimes,  when  the  prayer  is  not  submissive,  the 
very  granting  of  it  may  bring  about  its  own  punish- 
ment. For  the  man  as  for  the  child,  it  often  hap- 
pens that  the  gift  you  ask  would  be  harmful.  No 
wise  parent  would  always  give  the  best  beloved 
child  everything  that  the  child  asks.  It  is  indeed 
part  of  the  training  of  life  to  learn  that  there  may 
be  even  more  love  in  refusing  than  in  granting  the 
petition.  It  is  by  such  experiences  as  these,  that 
the  child  enters  into  more  perfect  relation  with  the 
human  father,  and  that  the  human  soul  enters  into 
more  complete  and  sympathetic  relation  with  the 
Divine. 

Another  difficulty  that  is  often  raised  is  this — 
How  can  God  hear  the  myriad  prayers  that  are  sent 
to  Him  at  once  from  this  earth?  This  objection 
really  springs  from  the  feeling  that  the  God  re- 
vealed in  the  Scriptures,  like  the  Gods  of  Olympus, 
lives  in  some  remote  place.  It  fails  to  realize  the 
omnipresence  of  God.  This  is  one  of  those  spirit- 
ual facts  that  we  cannot  understand,  and  which  we 
do  not  attempt  to  explain,  but  which  it  is  possible 
for  the  soul  to  know  and  to  realize.  And  after  all, 
even  in  natural  laws,  the  laws  which  govern  matter 
and  the  material  universe,  we  do  not  need  to  go 
very  far  before  we  reach  a  point  where  we  cannot 
understand.  But  yet,  we  know.  For  example,  a 
century  ago,  it  was  impossible  to  transmit  a  mes- 
sage from  one  continent  to  another.  The  concep- 
tion, even,  of  this  possibility  was  too  great  for 
human  grasp.  But  the  discoveries  of  science  first 
pointed  out  a  v/ay  by  which  an  insulated  cable  could 


PRAYER  53 

be  laid  at  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  and  by  which 
electric  currents  could  be  transmitted  through  the 
copper  wires  enclosed  in  this  cable ;  first  from  Ire- 
land to  Newfoundland,  then  from  France  to  Cape 
Cod,  and  at  a  later  period  across  the  great  Pacific 
Ocean.  We  can  study  the  laws  which  govern  the 
transmission  of  such  messages  and  the  operation  of 
the  machinery  which  man  has  used  to  accomplish 
these  wonderful  results.  But  who  can  understand 
the  principle  of  the  electric  current?  More  wonder- 
ful still!  After  long  experience  with  the  trans- 
mission of  messages  along  the  wires  of  the  electric 
cable,  Marconi  conceived  the  possibility  of  trans- 
mitting electric  vibrations  through  the  air,  so  that 
they  might  be  taken  up  by  a  receiver,  which  was 
attuned  in  harmony  with  the  transmitter,  and  recog- 
nized intelligently  at  a  distance  of  thousands  of 
miles.  This  wireless  telegraph  is  now  in  operation 
all  over  the  world.  It  is  quite  possible  to  teach  the 
student  how  to  construct  the  apparatus  which  is 
used  to  accomplish  these  results,  and  how  to  regu- 
late its  action.  But  who  can  understand  the  won- 
derful electric  force,  which  man  has  thus  been 
enabled  to  utilize  for  intercommunication?  Again, 
before  Marconi's  wireless  telegraph,  Thomas  A. 
Edison  invented  an  apparatus  by  which  four  mes- 
sages could  be  transmitted  at  the  same  time  over  the 
same  wire  without  interference  with  each  other,  and 
could  be  separately  picked  up  and  translated  into 
ordinary  speech  at  four  separate  receivers.  It  is 
possible  to  understand  the  construction  of  the  in- 
struments by  which  this   feat  was  accomplished. 


54     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

These  have  been  described  in  letters  patent,  and  are 
known  to  all  the  scientific  world.  But  Mr.  Edison 
himself  would  be  the  last  to  say  that  he  understood 
the  mystery  of  the  electric  force  which  he  has  thus 
been  enabled  to  utilize  for  the  service  of  man.  In 
short,  it  may  truly  be  said  that  those  who  have 
penetrated  farthest  into  the  mysteries  of  nature, 
realize  most  fully  the  depth  of  the  mystery  which 
lies  be3^ond. 

The  same  is  true  of  the  mystery  of  prayer. 
Christians  should  not  attempt  to  explain  it.  The 
fact,  as  Daniel  Webster  said,  is  what  we  want. 
That  fact  in  its  very  nature  can  be  learned  only  by 
experience.  That  experience  is  a  growth,  a  develop- 
ment. There  is  no  better  expression  for  it  than  the 
beautiful  verse  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs :  "  The  path 
of  the  just  is  as  the  shining  light,  that  shineth  more 
and  more  unto  the  perfect  day."  ^ 

Even  those  who  are  most  doubtful  as  to  the  ef- 
ficacy of  prayer  admit  its  reflex  influence  upon  the 
person  who  prays.  Surely  this  is  not  to  be  disre- 
garded. The  man  who  feels  that,  not  only  at  ap- 
pointed times  and  places,  he  can  speak  with  God, 
and  utter  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  to  the  Almighty 
Father,  but  that  in  every  moment  of  need,  in  the 
most  crowded  thoroughfare,  in  the  greatest  emer- 
gency, he  has  a  friend  who  knows  the  need,  and 
who  listens  to  the  expression  of  the  human  soul; 
this  man  finds  a  spring  of  strength  and  courage  and 
hope  that  can  come  from  no  other  source.  No  one 
has  expressed  this  better  than  Archbishop  Trench 
eProv.  4;i8. 


PRAYER  55 

in  the  sonnets  which  have  found  an  answering  echo 
in  many  a  human  heart. 

PRAYER 

Lord,  what  a  change  within  us  one  short  hour 
Spent  in  Thy  presence  will  avail  to  make ; 
What  heavy  burdens  from  our  bosoms  take, 

What  parched  grounds  refresh  as  with  a  shower! 

We  kneel,  and  all  around  us  seems  to  lower; 
We  rise,  and  all — the  distant  and  the  near — 
Stands  out  in  sunny  outline,  brave  and  clear. 

We  kneel,  how  weak !    W^e  rise,  how  full  of  power ! 

Why  therefore  should  we  do  ourselves  this  wrong, 

Or  others,  that  we  are  not  always  strong; 

That  we  are  ever  overborne  with  care ; 
That  we  should  ever  weak  or  restless  be, 

Anxious,  or  troubled,  when  with  us  is  prayer 

And  joy  and  strength  and  courage  are  with  Thee! 

When  hearts  are  full  of  yearning  tenderness 
For  the  loved  absent  whom  we  cannot  reach 
By  deed  or  token,  gesture  or  kind  speech, 

The  spirit's  true  affection  to  express. 

When  hearts  are  full  of  innermost  distress 
And  we  are  doomed  to  stand  inactively, 
Watching  the  soul's  or  body's  agony 

Which  human  effort  helps  not  to  make  less, 

Then  like  a  cup  capacious  to  contain 

The  overflowing  of  the  heart  is  prayer; 
The  longing  of  the  soul  is  satisfied ; 

The  keenest  darts  of  anguish  blunted  are ; 

And  though  we  have  not  ceased  to  yearn  or  grieve 
Yet  we  may  learn  in  patience  to  abide. 

Finally,  we  must  not  omit  to  call  attention  to  the 
inspiration  that  comes  from  united  prayer.  When  a 
multitude  of  brethren  meet,  and  with  one  accord 


56     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

pour  out  their  hearts  to  God ;  utter  His  praises,  and 
ask  for  His  blessing,  there  comes  a  sense  of  brother- 
hood, a  sense  of  unity  with  the  Divine,  that  some- 
times rises  almost  to  transport.  The  danger  is  that 
the  worshipper  may  become  so  familiar  with  the 
hymns  or  the  liturgy  to  which  he  is  accustomed,  that 
their  use  becomes  insensibly  formal;  that  their 
voice  is  no  more  to  him  than  that  of  a  pleasant 
instrument.  Experience  shows  that  those  who  use 
the  most  elevated  forms  of  prayer,  often  fail  to  rise 
to  the  height  of  the  words  they  so  frequently  ex- 
press. We  would  not  in  any  way  discourage  the  use 
of  these  noble  forms.  They  ought  to  set  before  the 
soul  an  ideal  to  which  it  may  gradually  attain.  But 
let  every  one  be  on  his  guard  lest  he  become  so  satis- 
fied with  the  outward  expression  that  he  lose  the 
inward  spirit. 

We  cannot  forbear  to  add  an  extract  from  Gen- 
eral Pershing's  letter  to  the  Federal  Council  of  the 
Churches  of  Christ  in  America : ' 

"  The  powerful  resources  of  the  nation  which  have 
been  placed  ungrudgingly  at  the  disposition  of  the 
Army  are  indispensable  for  the  accomplishment  of  our 
duly.  But  we  know  that  mere  wealth  of  material 
resources  or  even  of  technical  skill  will  not  suffice. 
The  invisible  and  unconquerable  force  let  loose  by 
the  prayers  and  hopes  and  ideals  of  Christian  America, 
of  which  you  are  representative,  is  incalculable.  It 
furnishes  the  soul  and  motive  for  the  military  body 
and  its  operations.  It  steadies  us  to  resist  manfully 
those  temptations  which  assail  us  in  the  extraordinary 
conditions  of  life  in  which  we  find  ourselves." 

7  The  Churchman,  Sept.  21,  1918,  p.  318. 


PRAYER  57 

This  counsel  from  the  great  general  who  com- 
manded the  American  Army  is  in  harmony  with 
the  counsel  of  the  great  French  leader,  Marshal 
Foch,  quoted  in  the  introduction.  What  inspiration 
to  realize  that  these  two  leaders,  who  have  con- 
ducted successfully  against  victorious  armies  the 
greatest  military  operations  in  the  history  of  the 
world,  should  both  be  devout  Christians,"  praying 
men,  deriving  power  and  wisdom  from  the  unfailing 
fountain  of  both — communion  with  God.  When  we 
remember  their  extraordinary  achievements,  and 
above  all,  perhaps,  their  success  in  effecting  the 
united  action  of  millions  of  men — different  in  race, 
in  education,  in  tradition — will  not  some  doubts 
which  have  been  referred  to  in  this  chapter  disap- 
pear ?  Here  are  great  facts ;  real  men ;  real  achieve- 
ments.   Let  us  not  hesitate  to  accept  them. 


MIRACLES 

THE  difficulties  that  sincere  men  have  raised  in 
connection  with  the  miracles  of  the  New- 
Testament  are  similar  to  those  which  they 
have  felt  in  reference  to  the  subject  of  prayer.  The 
root  of  them  all  is  a  false  conception  of  God.  We 
cannot  too  often  refer  to  the  admonition  of  St. 
John :  "  My  children,  guard  yourselves  against  false 
ideas  of  God."  ^ 

In  a  previous  chapter,  we  have  dealt  with  this 
subject,  and  endeavoured  to  point  out  the  conception 
of  God,  as  revealed  in  the  Bible.  He  is  not  an  in- 
flexible law.  He  is  not  a  machine,  even  though  it 
be  of  infinite  power  and  duration,  which  goes  on  its 
established  course  without  deviation.  On  the  con- 
trary, He  is  a  Father,  full  of  love  and  sympathy  for 
the  creatures  whom  He  has  made.  He  was  revealed 
in  Christ,  who  took  upon  Him  our  human  nature 
in  order  that  we  might  more  fully  realize  that  He 
is  our  elder  brother  and  our  best  and  dearest  friend. 
To  use  the  language  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews 
— ''  We  have  not  a  High  Priest  who  cannot  be 
touched  with  the  feeling  of  our  infirmities ;  but  was 
in  all  points  tempted  (tried)  as  we  are,  yet  without 

1 1  John  5 :  21,  Twentieth  Century  Testament, 
58 


MIRACLES  59 

sin.'^  ^  This  divine  man  appeared  on  earth,  and  it 
is  related  of  Him  that  he  healed  the  sick,  gave  sight 
to  the  Wind,  hearing  to  the  deaf,  strength  to  the 
lame.  It  is  even  related  that  not  only  did  He  him- 
self arise  from  the  dead  and  appear  visibly  to  His 
followers,  but  that  He  restored  to  life  His  friend 
Lazarus  and  the  son  of  the  widow  of  Nain.  Now 
if  we  really  believe  in  a  Personal  God,  who  has  a 
character  such  as  the  New  Testament  reveals,  why 
should  we  hesitate  to  believe  that  all  these  things 
happened  just  as  they  are  related?  It  is  another 
case  of  believing  in  a  result,  the  underlying  principle 
of  which  we  cannot  understand.  Without  repeat- 
ing what  has  been  said  on  this  subject  in  a  previous 
chapter,  let  us  call  attention  to  facts  which  we 
really  believe,  because  they  have  become  familiar, 
but  which  to  our  forefathers  would  have  seemed  as 
incredible  as  the  miracles  themselves.  The  achieve- 
ments of  modern  medicine  and  surgery,  and  of 
modern  science  are  our  modern  miracles. 

Take,  for  example,  anaesthetics.  Since  the  power 
of  ether  and  chloroform  was  discovered  and  made 
known  to  the  world,  many  operations,  which  were 
impossible,  have  become  feasible.  Some  of  our 
readers  have  probably  witnessed  the  effect  of  these 
anaesthetics.  Some  of  us  have  experienced  their 
power,  have  lain  down  on  a  couch,  subject  to  some 
physical  malady,  some  deranged  organ;  the  con- 
tinuance of  which  in  its  diseased  condition  threat- 
ened life  itself.  We  have  passed  into  a  quiet  slum- 
ber, and  when  we  awoke,  all  danger  was  removed. 


6o     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

Perhaps  the  diseased  member  had  been  altogether 
taken  away  from  the  body,  and  the  incision  left  to 
heal. 

Again  we  behold  another  wonderful  achievement, 
for  which  man  is  especially  indebted  to  Pasteur  and 
Lister.  These  great  men  showed  us  what  was  quite 
unknown  before,  that  there  were  germs  which  were 
the  source  of  infection,  poison,  and  often  of  death. 
They  showed  us,  that  by  an  antiseptic  treatment, 
which  would  destroy  these  germs  and  destroy  their 
power,  wounds,  formerly  fatal,  could  be  healed  and 
were  healed. 

Now  again  the  blind  receive  their  sight,  the  deaf 
hear,  the  lame  walk,  and  those  who  are  stricken  with 
a  malady  or  receive  a  wound,  which  a  century  ago, 
would  have  been  fatal,  retain  their  life  and  are 
restored  to  health  and  strength.  We  have  learned 
that  many  of  the  maladies  of  infancy  that  caused 
the  death  of  myriads  of  little  children  before  they 
attained  the  age  of  five,  were  due  to  the  ignorance 
of  those  who  had  them  in  care,  and  that  by  proper 
feeding  and  treatment,  these  little  bodies  can  be  pre- 
served and  come  to  vigorous  maturity. 

Two  centuries  ago,  man  had  not  learned  to  domi- 
nate the  forces  of  nature.  To  him  they  were  ob- 
scure ;  the  laws  that  regulated  them  were  unknown. 
The  fact  that  they  could  be  controlled  by  man  had 
not  entered  the  mind  of  the  most  visionary.  Within 
these  two  centuries  men  have  seized  the  great  agent, 
heat,  have  by  its  use  availed  themselves  of  the  ex- 
pansive force  of  water,  and  have  made  steam  a 
mighty  agent  for  doing  an  infinity  of  work  that  two 


MIRACLES  6i 

centuries  ago  could  not  have  been  done  at  all.  To  go 
from  Boston  to  New  York  in  five  hours  was,  a  cen- 
tury ago,  not  only  difficult,  but  physically  impos- 
sible. Its  accomplishment  at  that  time  would  have 
seemed  as  much  a  miracle  as  the  turning  of  the 
water  into  wine.  Now  it  is  common  and  fa- 
miliar. 

A  hundred  years  ago  men  enjoyed  the  light  of 
the  sun  when  it  shone,  but  how  meagre  and  inade- 
quate were  their  artificial  substitutes.  Light  itself 
was  put  to  no  useful  purposes  to  which  nature 
itself  did  not  apply  it.  But  what  do  we  now  see? 
Not  only  do  we  draw  from  deposits  in  the  earth, 
oil,  in  which  the  sunlight  has  been  stored  in 
secret  for  thousands  of  years,  and  gas,  which  il- 
lumine our  buildings,  but  we  have  found  how  to 
convert  the  power  of  steam  or  the  force  of  water 
into  electricity,  and  to  produce  an  electric  light  as 
brilliant  as  that  of  the  sun  at  noon-day. 

A  hundred  years  ago  the  lightning  as  it  flashed 
from  the  clouds  was  practically  the  only  form  in 
which  man  was  acquainted  with  the  power  of  elec- 
tricity. But  now,  not  only  do  we  use  it  for  light, 
but  we  have  made  it  our  servant  for  myriad  pur- 
poses. By  its  means,  we  transmit  a  question  to 
London,  and  receive  an  answer,  within  an  hour. 
By  its  means  we  are  practically  in  immediate  com- 
munication with  all  the  ends  of  the  earth,  and  are 
using  it  as  a  medium  of  force  and  power,  more 
easily  managed,  and  more  conveniently  transmitted 
than  steam  itself. 

The  men  who  have  accomplished  all  this,  can  only 


62     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

be  won  to  the  Christian  faith  by  making  them  feel 
that  it  is  a  force  as  real  as  those  forces  of  nature 
with  which  they  are  familiar.  If  we  wish  to  con- 
vince the  mass  of  mankind,  not  only  of  our  sin- 
cerity, but  of  the  truth  of  the  faith  we  hold,  we 
must  show  it  by  its  power.  "  The  words  that  I 
speak  unto  you,"  said  the  Lord,  "  are  spirit  and  are 
life."  The  works  that  He  did  were  proofs  to  the 
people  of  His  helpfulness,  His  power,  and  His  love. 
In  every  instance  where  a  miracle  was  wrought,  it 
was  wrought  as  a  means  of  helping  some  need. 
The  sick  were  cured,  not  as  a  magical  display  but 
as  a  means  of  relieving  actual  suffering.  When  the 
Master  appeared  in  the  morning,  through  the  mists 
that  were  rising  from  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  and  bade 
the  disciples  cast  in  the  net  on  the  right  side  of  the 
ship,  He  appeared  as  a  helper  to  men  who  had  been 
toiling  all  night,  and  had  caught  nothing;  to  men 
who  had  done  their  very  best  in  their  own  calling, 
and  had  failed.  The  wonderful  power  and  effec- 
tiveness of  our  Lord's  ministry  were  distinctly  this : 
He  came  with  power  to  help  those  that  needed  it. 
If  Christians  are  to  transform  the  world,  we  must 
do  the  same.  The  promise,  in  one  sense,  is  not  that 
we  shall  work  miracles.  But  in  another  and  most 
important  sense  it  is.  The  greatest  miracle  is  the 
transformation  of  the  human  soul,  strengthening 
the  weak  and  erring  will,  making  a  man  who  has 
been  dishonest  and  deceitful,  and  a  slave  of  his 
passions,  an  honest,  true,  unselfish  man.  This  is 
the  work  of  the  Christian  Church,  and  to  succeed 
in  this,  we  must  show  to  the  world  that  our  claims 


MIRACLES  63 

are  not  based  on  any  argument  derived  from  his- 
tory, but  on  our  present  power  and  usefulness. 

The  fact  that  the  wonders,  to  which  we  have 
referred,  are  achieved  frequently,  and  by  means 
which  can  be  studied  and  learned  and  used  by  the 
learner,  to  the  ordinary  mind  takes  away  the 
wonder  of  them.  But  are  they  really  any  less 
wonderful  than  the  miracles  of  Christ?  Assume, 
as  we  do  from  a  Christian  standpoint,  that  He  was 
a  being  of  infinite  love  and  infinite  power,  why 
should  we  hesitate  to  believe  that  He  did  all  that  is 
related  of  Him  ?  And  why,  again,  should  we  doubt 
that  these  achievements  in  surgery  and  medicine  are 
the  fulfilment  of  the  promise  which  He  gave  in  His 
last  great  discourse  to  His  disciples  ? 

"  He  that  believeth  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do 
shall  he  do  also ;  and  greater  works  than  these  shall 
he  do/'  ^ 

It  must  be  remembered  that  these  works  of  Christ 
were  always  done  as  works  of  benevolence  and  love. 
He  refused  to  give  any  other  manifestation  of  His 
power.  He  was  frequently  asked  to  give  some  sign 
from  heaven.*  This  He  always  declined  to  do. 
Even  on  the  Cross,  the  passersby  cried :  "  He  saved 
others,  himself  he  cannot  save;"  "If  he  be  the 
King  of  Israel,  let  him  now  come  down  from  the 
cross,  and  we  will  believe  him."  ^ 

To  this  He  remained  silent. 

When  the  disciples  of  John  asked  Jesus  for  some 
statement  of   His  mission,   St.   Luke   says:   "He 

3  John  14 :  12.  4  Matt.  12 :  38 ;  Luke  1 1 :  39. 

5  Matt.  27148;  Mark  15:31,  33. 


64     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

cured  many  of  their  infirmities  and  plagues  and  of 
evil  spirits/'  ^ 

Here,  again,  difficulties  have  been  raised.  The 
casting  out  of  evil  spirits  has  seemed  to  many  a 
hard  saying.  But  we  must  remember  the  rule  of 
construction,  which  He  Himself  gave,  and  which 
has  been  dealt  with  in  the  first  chapter,  "  The  words 
that  I  speak  unto  you  are  spirit  and  are  life."  ^  It 
does  not  need  much  study  of  history  or  very  ex- 
tended observation  of  human  nature  to  realize  that 
in  the  hearts  of  men,  there  are  today,  and  have 
been  ever  since  Christ  was  on  earth,  spirits  more 
evil  than  those  which  He  is  described  as  casting  out. 
Anger,  hatred,  lust,  covetousness,  selfishness,  these 
very  spirits  have  devastated  some  of  the  fairest  por- 
tions of  the  earth;  have  slain  millions  of  human 
beings,  not  sparing  even  women  and  children,  and 
sometimes  subjecting  them  to  outrage  worse  than 
death.  When  we  turn  our  eyes  away  from  this 
great  international  theatre,  and  look  into  individual 
lives,  we  see  the  same  evil  spirits  at  work.  Here 
again  the  promise  to  the  disciples,  already  quoted, 
has  been  fulfilled.  The  number  of  human  souls  that 
have  been  turned  from  their  vicious  courses,  puri- 
fied from  evil  passions,  and  led  into  the  right  path, 
is  innumerably  greater  than  that  of  those  whom 
Christ  directly  reached.  Men  complain  that  the 
teachings  of  Christ  have  not  converted  the  world. 
They  sometimes  call  it  a  failure  of  Christianity 
that  this  conversion  of  the  world  has  not  been  ac- 
complished.   No  doubt  much  of  the  delay  is  due  to 

«Luke  7:21.  7  John  6:63. 


MIRACLES  65 

the  faults  of  Christians  themselves,  to  their  failure 
to  observe  the  commands  of  the  Master.  But  apart 
from  all  this,  the  study  of  the  natural  world,  as 
well  as  of  the  spiritual  world,  teaches  us  that  devel- 
opment is  usually  a  slow  process.  This  is  the  divine 
plan.  We  see  it  in  the  history  of  the  material 
universe.  We  ought  not  to  expect  that  it  should  be 
otherwise  in  the  dealings  of  God  with  His  human 
creatures. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  we  have  not  in  this 
chapter  made  any  reference  to  the  miracles  related 
in  the  Old  Testament.  It  seems  more  important  to 
consider  in  detail  those  of  the  New.  But  we  be- 
lieve that  the  same  principles,  which  have  been  laid 
down  with  reference  to  the  later  revelation,  are 
equally  applicable  to  the  earlier.  After  all,  the  vital 
point  is  to  believe  firmly  in  the  power  and  love  of 
God,  nozv,  for  each  human  soul.  If  we  do  that,  we 
need  not  perplex  ourselves  about  any  manifestations 
related  in  the  past.  It  is  in  the  present  that  we 
must  live.  For  this  life,  we  need  the  full  assurance 
of  faith,  the  present  help  of  the  loving  Father,  and 
of  our  elder  Brother.  And  the  soul  that  is  still  per- 
plexed with  doubts  as  to  the  details  of  other  mani- 
festations, centuries  ago,  may  well  turn  aside  from 
those  doubts,  and  rest  in  the  consciousness  of  pres- 
ent power  and  love. 


VI 

FATALISM  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL 

THE  controversy  between  those  who  believe  in 
the  doctrine  of  necessity,  or,  as  the  theolo- 
gians have  sometimes  called  it,  predestina- 
tion, and  the  advocates  of  free  wull,  'is  as  old  as 
man.  It  really  springs,  as  most  controversies  do, 
from  the  failure  of  the  champions  of  each  side  to 
observe  the  certain  amount  of  truth,  ^which  is  on 
the  other  side.  The  old  fable  of  the  shield,  gold 
on  one  face  and  silver  on  the  other,  is  constantly 
verified  by  experience  of  life. 

We  find  the  truth  on  this  subject  expressed  in 
the  Scriptures.  It  is  sometimes  stated,  as  you  read, 
from  one  standpoint  and  sometimes  from  the  other. 
It  is  especially  necessary  in  our  thoughts  upon 
these  controversies  to  remember  the  rule  of  construc- 
tion, that  the  book  must  be  taken  as  a  whole,  and 
that  it  is  not  scientific  or  just  to  dwell  upon  isolated 
passages  to  the  exclusion  of  the  rest. 

The  doctrine  of  the  sovereignty  of  God  is  clearly 
stated  in  the  Scriptures.  For  example,  the  prophet 
Isaiah  speaks  of  man  as  the  clay  which  the  Lord 
has  fashioned.  He  cries :  "  Now,  O  Lord,  thou 
art  our  Father;  we  the  clay  and  thou  our  potter, 

66 


FATALISM  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL     (,j 

and  we  all  are  the  work  of  thy  hand."  ^  On  the 
other  hand,  Ezekiel  condemns  the  proverb  to  which 
the  Jews  of  his  time  gave  credence.  "  The  fathers 
have  eaten  sour  grapes,  and  the  children's  teeth  are 
set  on  edge."  He  declares  in  elaborate  and  repeated 
argument  that  it  is  the  soul  that  sinneth,  which 
shall  die,  that  if  the  son  of  the  righteous  man  be- 
comes a  robber,  oppresses  the  poor  and  needy,  "  he 
shall  surely  die."  His  father's  righteousness  shall 
not  save  him.  On  the  other  hand,  if  this  robber  has 
a  son  that  repudiates  his  father's  sins,  and,  instead 
of  following  in  his  course  of  greed,  gives  his  bread 
to  the  hungry,  and  covers  the  naked  with  a  garment, 
"  he  shall  surely  live."  "  The  son  shall  not  bear 
the  iniquity  of  the  father,  neither  shall  the  father 
bear  the  iniquity  of  the  son."  He  points  out  also 
that  for  the  wicked  there  is  redemption.  "  If  the 
wicked  will  turn  from  all  the  sins  that  he  hath  com- 
mitted, and  keep  all  my  statutes,  and  do  that  which 
is  lawful  and  right,  he  shall  surely  live,  he  shall 
not  die."  "  All  his  transgressions  that  he  has  com- 
mitted, they  shall  not  be  mentioned  unto  him."  - 

ilsa.  64:8;  45:9. 

Carlyle  puts  this  admirably  (''Sartor  Resartus,"  Bk  II,  Ch. 
IX)  :  *'  Our  Life  is  compassed  about  with  Necessity ;  yet  is 
the  meaning  of  Life  itself  no  other  than  Freedom,  than  Vol- 
untary Force :  thus  have  we  a  warfare  in  the  beginning,  espe- 
cially a  hard-fought  battle."  In  the  same  volume  he  reduces 
to  an  absurdity  the  famous  theorem  of  Jonathan  Edwards 
that  the  action  of  man  is  always  governed  by  the  strongest 
motive,  and  that,  therefore,  there  is  no  real  freedom  of 
the  will.  **  To  fancy  himself  a  dead  Iron-Balance  for  weigh- 
ing Pains  and  Pleasures  on,  was  reserved  for  this  his  latter 
era.  There  stands  he,  his  universe  one  huge  manger  filled 
with  hay  and  thistles  to  be  weighed  against  each  other;  and 
looks  long-eared  enough.'' 

2  Ezek.  18. 


68     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

Again,  in  the  New  Testament,  Christ  says  to  His 
apostles,  "  Ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  have  chosen 
you."  ^  In  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  St.  Paul  uses 
the  image  of  Isaiah  and  speaks  of  man  as  the  clay, 
and  of  God  as  the  potter.* 

But  on  the  other  hand,  the  gospel  tells  us  that  one 
of  these  very  chosen  apostles  betrayed  his  Lord,  and 
in  the  same  Epistle  St.  Paul  expressly  declares  in 
graphic  language  that  **  God  will  render  to  every 
man  according  to  his  deeds ;  to  them  who  by  patient 
continuance  in  well-doing  seek  for  glory  and  honour 
and  immortality,  eternal  life;  but  unto  them  that 
are  contentious,  and  do  not  obey  the  truth,  but  obey 
unrighteousness;  indignation  and  Vvrath,  tribulation 
and  anguish,  upon  every  soul  of  man  that  doeth 
evil,  of  the  Jew  first,  and  also  of  the  Gentile.  But 
glory,  honour,  and  peace  to  every  man  that  worketh 
good,  to  the  Jew  first,  and  also  to  the  Gentile.  For 
there  is  no  respect  of  persons  with  God."  ^ 

Words  could  not  express  more  clearly  the 
thought  that  man  has  the  power  to  choose  between 
good  and  evil,  and  that  if  he  choose  the  good,  he 
will  be  blessed  in  the  end,  whatever  trials  may  for  a 
time  assail  him,  and  that  if  he  choose  evil,  he  will 
in  the  end  be  punished,  whatever  temporary  success 
he  may  for  a  time  achieve.  Here  we  have  another 
notable  illustration  of  what  Carlyle  calls — '*  The 
everlasting  Yea,  wherein  all  contradiction  is 
solved." 

It  is  true  that  God  is  sovereign,  but  it  is  also 
true  that,  when  He  made  man,  He  gave  to  him  the 

«John  15:16.  *Rom.  9:21.  *  Rom.  2:6-11. 


FATALISM  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL     69 

power  of  choice,  and  deals  with  this  wonderful 
creature  with  absolute  justice,  tempered  with  mercy. 
This  God-given  power  of  choice  is  assumed  by 
every  man  every  day  of  his  life,  yet  we  find  from 
time  to  time  a  recurrence  to  the  old  Greek  idea  of 
fate.  This  pervades  the  tragedies  of  ^schylus.  It 
w^as  sometimes  thought  that  even  Gods  were  not 
exempt  from  this  controlling  and  mysterious  power. 
In  our  own  day  a  thoughtful  woman  (Professor 
Vida  Scudder)  has  thus  expressed  the  idea : 

"  As  we  scan  the  great  crises  of  historic  change,  the 
part  of  the  free  individual  dwindles,  and  a  Necessity, 
usually  economic  in  origin,  stands  forth  as  the  pro- 
tagonist to  whose  secret  Will  all  must  conform." 

It  seems  to  be  one  of  the  standard  arguments  of 
advocates  of  modern  Socialism  to  insist  upon  the 
dominant  influence  of  the  spirit  and  tendencies  of 
each  age,  and  to  belittle  the  force  of  leadership. 
This  harmonizes  well  with  their  general  scheme  for 
reconstructing  societ}-.  It  is  a  comfortable  doc- 
trine, and  if  conscience  would  allow  us  to  believe 
it,  there  would  be  relief  from  the  stress  of  benevo- 
lent activity.  We  need  only  to  drift  with  the 
stream  of  our  time  and  all  will  go  well.  But  will 
this  theory  stand  the  test  of  the  observed  facts  of 
history? 

In  all  discussions  it  is  of  vital  importance  to  avoid 
a  priori  reasoning  and  to  submit  every  theory,  how- 
ever plausible,  to  the  test  of  facts.  That  great 
scientist,  Wolcott  GIbbs,  taught  his  classes  that  a 
theory  is  only  a  convenient  method  of  classifying 


70     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

facts.  Certainly  the  facts  must  be  carefully  exam- 
ined. We  need  a  wide  induction.  But  if,  after  full 
and  accurate  investigation,  the  theory  and  the  facts 
do  not  coincide,  we  must  revise  the  theory.  That 
was  w^hat  happened  to  the  old  Ptolemaic  theory  of 
the  movements  of  the  heavenly  bodies.  To  all  out- 
ward appearance  the  sun  revolved  around  the  earth. 
For  many  centuries  this  proposition  was  firmly  be- 
lieved. But  the  observations  of  Copernicus  and 
Galileo  brought  facts  to  light  entirely  inconsistent 
with  this  theory,  and  finally,  with  great  reluctance, 
it  was  abandoned.  None  of  us  believe  in  it  now. 
It  behooves  us,  then,  to  test  the  comfortable  theory 
that  has  been  referred  to,  by  the  facts  of  history. 

At  the  outset,  however,  we  freely  admit  that  there 
is  such  a  thing  as  the  Zeitgeist.  Shakespeare  ex- 
presses it  in  the  familiar  quotation  : 

"  There  is  a  tide  in  the  affairs  of  men, 
Which,  taken  at  the  flood,  leads  on  to  fortune." 

But  the  point  in  which  every  one  should  be  inter- 
ested is  whether  the  individual  does  not  still  con- 
tinue to  play  an  essential  part  in  human  affairs. 
The  instance  that  is  put  forward  by  the  counsellor 
whom  we  have  quoted  is  our  own  Civil  War.  She 
admits  that  Lincoln  played  an  important  part  in  the 
conduct  of  our  affairs.  But  it  is  said  that  if  he 
had  died  in  infancy  ''  the  course  of  events  would 
have  been  essentially  the  same."  Can  this  proposi- 
tion be  substantiated?  On  the  one  side,  it  is  ob- 
viously fallacious  to  infer  that  one  thing  is  neces- 
sarily the  cause  of  another  because  the  latter  sue- 


FATALISM  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL     71 

ceeds  the  former.  But  is  it  not  equally  an  assump- 
tion to  say  dogmatically  that  such  is  not  the  case? 
Clearly  it  is  necessary  to  analyse  the  sequence  of 
events,  and  from  this  to  judge  of  the  connection. 
Bearing  this  in  mind,  let  us  refer  to  one  very  im- 
portant crisis  in  the  Civil  War,  that  which  grew 
out  of  Commodore  Wilkes  stopping  the  British 
steamer  Trent  and  taking  from  her  the  Confederate 
envoys  Mason  and  Slidell.  The  country  gen- 
erally thought  Wilkes  was  right.  When  he  came 
into  port,  he  was  received  with  great  enthusiasm. 
The  Northern  newspapers,  almost  without  excep- 
tion, rang  with  applause.  It  was  very  difficult  for  a 
President  to  overrule  Wilkes  in  the  face  of  this 
popular  sentiment.  We  know  now  from  the  re- 
markable diary  of  Mr.  Welles,  as  well  as  from  many 
other  sources,  that  it  required  all  Lincoln's  force  of 
character  and  strength  of  will  to  overrule  the  Com- 
modore, and  restore  the  Confederate  envoys.  Yet, 
if  anything  which  has  not  actually  happened  can 
possibly  be  clear,  it  is  that  if  Lincoln  had  not  re- 
stored them,  there  would  have  been  war  between 
Great  Britain  and  the  Northern  States.  The  fleet  of 
England  would  have  broken  the  blockade,  and  the 
success  of  the  North  would  have  been  impossible. 
That  certainly  would  have  made  a  difference  in  the 
history  of  the  world,  the  extent  of  which  we  can- 
not calculate,  but  the  greatness  of  which  none  can 
deny. 

Look  at  the  same  crisis  from  the  British  stand- 
point. Lord  Palmerston  was  then  the  British 
Premier.    He  resented  hotly,  as  he  always  did,  any 


J2     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

insult  to  the  British  flag.  It  was  part  of  his  theory 
that  the  rights  of  an  Englishman  should  be  as 
sacred  everywhere  in  the  world  as  those  of  a  Roman 
citizen  used  to  be  in  the  days  of  the  Empire.  The 
dispatch  which  he  prepared,  demanding  the  return 
of  the  Confederate  envoys,  was  couched  in  such 
language  that  it  would  have  been  difficult,  if  not 
impossible,  for  any  self-respecting  nation  to  yield 
to  such  a  demand.  That  great  man,  Prince  Albert, 
w^as  consulted  by  the  Queen.  They  modified  the 
dispatch  in  such  a  sense  as  to  make  it  easy  for  the 
United  States  to  yield. 

Here,  then,  we  have  an  instance  where  one  may 
assert  with  scientific  accuracy  that  the  continuance 
of  the  American  Union  or  its  dissolution,  with  all 
that  that  implied,  depended  upon  the  co-ordinate 
action  of  two  great  and  wise  men.  If  their  conduct 
had  been  different,  the  result  would  have  been 
different. 

But  one  illustration,  however  clear,  is  not  suf- 
ficient for  scientific  purposes.  Let  us,  therefore, 
refer  to  two  other  notable  crises  in  American  his- 
tory, one  before  and  one  after  the  great  Civil  War. 

After  the  surrender  of  Burgoyne  at  Saratoga,  a 
cabal  w^as  formed  to  displace  Washington  and  make 
Gates  Commander-in-Chief.  This  came  very  near 
succeeding.  We  know  now  from  the  researches  of 
many  historians,  which  Mr.  Oliver  has  summarized 
in  his  remarkable  "  Life  of  Hamilton,*'  that  it  re- 
quired all  the  force,  courage,  and  tact  of  Washing- 
ton to  keep  together  the  forces  of  the  revolted 
colonies.    We  know  also  that  the  British  Minister 


FATALISM  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL     73 

offered  concessions  in  1778  which  the  country 
would  have  accepted  in  1775.  We  also  know  now 
very  well  what  sort  of  man  Gates  was.  Is  it  not 
clear  that  if  the  cabal  had  succeeded  and  Wash- 
ington had  been  displaced,  Gates  could  never  have 
kept  the  colonies  together,  could  never  have  ob- 
tained the  effective  support  of  the  French  army  and 
navy,  and  that  the  Revolution  would  have  been  a 
failure?  The  colonists  were  the  same,  but  under 
Washington  they  succeeded,  under  Gates  they  cer- 
tainly would  have  failed. 

Let  us  take  another  illustration,  drawn  from  the 
second  administration  of  President  Cleveland. 
There  w^as  a  time  during  this  administration  when 
the  confidence  of  financiers  in  the  adherence  of  the 
United  States  to  the  gold  standard  was  impaired,  if 
not  lost.  The  spirit  of  the  American  people,  led 
astray  by  the  time-serving  policy  of  almost  all  our 
public  men,  rather  inclined  to  the  silver  standard. 
A  remarkable  cartoon  of  the  period  represents  a 
parting  of  the  ways  which  led  to  the  White  House. 
One  finger-post  marks  gold  standard,  the  other 
silver.  Harrison,  McKinley,  and  Reed  stand  at  the 
parting  of  the  ways,  quite  undecided  which  to  take. 

This  condition  of  the  public  mind  led  our  credi- 
tors to  demand  gold,  w^hen  they  could  get  it. 
There  was  a  rapid  drain  upon  the  Treasury,  and  in 
two  weeks  the  Treasury  stock  of  gold  would  have 
been  entirely  exhausted,  the  country  would  have 
been  put  on  a  silver  standard,  and  the  value  of  all 
indebtedness  would  thereby  have  been  reduced  just 
one-half.    The  silver  dollar  at  that  time  was  worth 


74     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

fifty  cents  in  gold  and  no  more.  From  this  shame- 
ful national  dishonour  we  were  saved  by  the 
courage  and  wisdom  of  one  man,  Grover  Cleveland. 

He  got  no  help  from  Congress.  His  recommen- 
dation of  additional  legislation  which  would  have 
enabled  the  government  to  sell  its  bonds  on  better 
terms  was  rejected.  The  discredit  of  the  govern- 
ment was  increased  by  the  fact  of  a  deficit.  This 
was  due  to  the  unexpected  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  that  the  income  tax  embodied  in  the  Wilson 
Bill  was  unconstitutional.  That  source  of  revenue 
being  cut  off,  there  was  inevitably  a  deficit.  The 
fact  of  the  deficit  and  the  refusal  of  Congress  to 
make  it  good  naturally  increased  distrust  in  the 
solvency  of  the  Treasury.  Yet  the  Republican  ma- 
jority refused  to  support  the  Treasury,  even  by  put- 
ting a  tax  of  a  dollar  a  barrel  on  beer.  But  Cleve- 
land availed  himself  of  an  old  statute,  announced 
his  determination  to  maintain  the  credit  of  the 
government,  sold  bonds  for  that  purpose  and  suc- 
ceeded. 

Here,  then,  we  have  an  undoubted  instance  of  a 
single  man  changing  the  destinies  of  a  great  nation, 
in  opposition  to  the  majority  in  both  houses  in 
Congress,  and  to  the  prevailing  temper  of  his  people. 
We  all  thank  him  now.  A  Republican  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  (Shaw)  has  said  that  Mr.  Cleveland 
was  specially  raised  up  by  God  to  do  this  particular 
work.  In  the  face  of  this,  what  becomes  of  the 
theory  that  the  individual  dwindles  and  that  there 
is  an  overruling  Necessity  "  to  whose  secret  Will 
all  must  conform?  " 


FATALISM  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL     75 

But  it  may  justly  be  said  that  facts  taken  from 
the  history  of  one  country  are  an  insufficient  basis 
for  general  induction.  Let  us,  then,  recall  two  crises 
in  the  history  of  Great  Britain  which  have  a  world 
importance.  First,  let  us  consider  the  dominance  of 
the  Anglo-Saxon  race  in  North  America.  It  is 
showing  unparalleled  assimilative  power  and  extend- 
ing its  influence  into  every  part  of  the  world.  That 
dominance  we  owe  to  the  success  of  Great  Britain 
in  the  Seven  Years'  War.  Up  to  that  time  it  seemed 
to  all  outward  appearance  that  the  French  were  as 
likely  as  the  English  to  control  the  continent.  At 
the  beginning  of  that  war  the  English  generally 
were  unsuccessful.  This  was  due  to  the  inefficiency 
and  corruption  of  the  government.  It  was  actually 
thought  necessary  to  summon  Hanoverian  and  Hes- 
sian regiments  to  the  defence  of  the  British  Isles. 
In  the  previous  war  (1745),  but  under  the  same 
reign,  the  Pretender  with  his  Scottish  troops 
marched  as  far  as  Derby,  and  probably  would  have 
taken  London  had  he  pushed  boldly  on.  Leading 
men  there  packed  their  plate  and  made  ready  to 
fly  to  the  Continent. 

As  Pitt  declared,  "  The  maxims  of  our  govern- 
ment were  degenerated,  not  our  natives."  Port 
Mahon  surrendered  to  the  French.  Byng  refused 
to  join  battle  with  their  fleet.  Chesterfield  cried 
in  despair,  "  We  are  no  longer  a  nation." 

At  this  extremity  of  disgrace  a  man  came  to  the 
front.  William  Pitt  became  Secretary  of  State. 
The  electoral  troops  were  sent  back  to  Hanover. 
The  spirit  of  the  Great  Commoner  was  impressed 


76     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

upon  every  branch  of  the  service.  Wolfe  con- 
quered at  Quebec.  Hawke  cried  to  his  pilot,  who 
had  represented  the  danger  of  the  position,  "  Lay 
me  alongside  the  French  Admiral."  At  every  point 
British  arms  were  successful.  By  the  treaty  of  1763 
the  French  ceded  Canada.  This  has  now  become 
a  great  Dominion,  and  is  rapidly  developing  into 
one  of  the  important  factors  in  our  complex  modern 
civilization. 

And  must  it  not  also  be  said  that  the  acquisition 
of  Canada  and  the  consequent  security  of  the  colo- 
nies on  their  northern  frontier  were  among  the 
most  powerful  factors  in  the  development  of  the 
spirit  which  produced  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence ? 

Let  us  conclude  with  another  group  of  facts 
from  English  history.  "  Peace  hath  her  victories 
no  less  renowned  than  war." 

The  condition  of  morals,  both  public  and  private, 
in  Great  Britain  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
seventeenth  and  the  first  part  of  the  eighteenth 
century  was  shocking.    Of  the  first  White  says :  * 

"  William  was  probably  the  only  honest  man  in  the 
English  Court — the  only  man  who  felt  bound  not  to 
do  a  thing  because  he  had  sworn  to  abstain.  The 
others  were  brought  up  in  a  school  of  profligacy  and 
duplicity  which  only  a  despotic  Court  pretending  to 
liberality  can  supply." 

And  as  to  the  latter  century,  all  contemporary 
accounts  agree  that  the  general  tone  of  manner* 

^J.  White,  "History  of  England,"  quoted  in  "Historians* 
History  of  the  World,"  Vol.  XX,  p.  449. 


FATALISM  AND  THE  INDIVIDUAL     ^j 

and  morals  was  corrupt,  profligate,  dissolute.  Swift 
in  his  "  Voyage  to  Laputa  '^  describes  a  college  of 
madmen.  One  distinctive  trait  was  the  fancy  that 
public  offices  could  ever  be  bestowed  for  merit. 

Into  this  pandemonium  came  John  Wesley.  He 
was  mobbed,  but  persisted  with  undaunted  courage. 
As  he  "  reasoned  of  righteousness,  temperance,  and 
judgment  to  come,"  every  Felix  trembled.  There 
began  a  great  religious  reformation,  the  influence 
of  which  extended  far  and  v/ide.  With  our  present 
standard  of  righteous  conduct  in  public  and  private 
life,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  how  low  the  standard 
was  two  hundred  years  ago.  John  Wesley  raised 
it  and  carried  it  aloft  from  land  to  land.  Certainly 
the  spirit  of  God  moved  upon  the  face  of  the  chaos 
and  brought  light  and  life  to  the  dark  disorder. 
But  the  influence  of  the  individual  was  the  most 
potent  means  to  achieve  the  great  result. 

This  brief  analysis  of  historic  facts  might  be 
greatly  extended.  We  might  have  compared  the 
process  of  reconstruction  under  Andrew  Johnson 
with  what  might  reasonably  have  been  expected 
had  Abraham  Lincoln  lived.  But  enough  has  been 
said  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  in  all  our  schemes 
for  social  reform  we  should  aim  first  at  the  educa- 
tion and  development  of  the  individual. 

There  are  some  who  think  that  it  elevates  the 
race  to  underrate  the  influence  of  individuals.  It 
has  been  said  that  the  greatest  man  is  but  little  in 
advance  of  his  time,  and  is  to  the  advancing  flood 
what  the  crest  of  the  wave  is  to  the  billow  below. 
The  proposition  is  pleasing  to  small  minds.    Since 


^8     A  LAWYER'S.  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

they  cannot  rise  themselves,  it  flatters  their  vanity 
to  diminish  the  interval  which  separates  them  from 
the  leaders  of  mankind.  But  the  plainest  teachings 
of  history  and  the  most  ordinary  facts  of  everyday 
life  must  be  disregarded  in  order  to  maintain  this 
ingenious  hypothesis. 

The  traveller  who  stands  in  the  Union  Station  at 
Chicago  beholds  numerous  tracks  side  by  side,  all 
apparently  leading  in  the  same  direction.  A  man 
at  one  end  of  the  station  moves  an  iron  rod,  and 
one  train,  obedient  to  the  steel  ribbons  on  which  it 
rolls,  passes  away  to  the  East.  He  moves  another, 
and  the  next  train  departs  for  the  West ;  and  so 
they  go,  parallel  at  first,  but  diverging  as  far  as  the 
waters  of  the  Atlantic  are  from  the  Golden  Gate  of 
the  Pacific.  Such  is  the  influence  of  individuals 
upon  nations.  The  bigotry  and  cruelty  of  Philip 
brought  the  proud  Castilian  monarchy  of  Ferdinand 
and  Isabella  to  the  dust.  The  weakness  and  selfish- 
ness of  Charles  humiliated  and  degraded  the  great 
nation  which  with  Cromwell  at  its  head  received  the 
respect  and  deference  of  all  Europe.  The  same 
army  which  was  discomfited  and  driven  back  at 
Chancellorsville,  carried  the  banners  of  the  Republic 
in  triumph  upon  the  bloody  field  of  Gettysburg. 

Foch,  who  is  perhaps  the  greatest  General  of  our 
time,  quotes  Napoleon  to  the  same  effect :  '^ 

"  It  was  not  the  Roman  legions  which  conquered 
Gaul,  wrote  the  Emperor,  but  Csesar.     It  was  not  the 

^A  notable  instance  of  the  great  change  in  history  pro- 
duced by  the  death  of  a  Icadt-r  is  the  story  of  Gustavus 
Adolphus,  killed  at  Liitzen,  1632,  "Cambridge  Modern  His- 
tory," Vol.  IV,  pp.  221,  222,  568,  68j,  696. 


FATALISiM  Ai\D  THE  INDIVIDUAL     79 

Carthaginian  soldiers  who  made  Rome  tremble,  but 
Hannibal.  It  was  not  the  Macedonian  phalanx  which 
penetrated  India,  but  Alexander.  It  was  not  the 
French  army  which  reached  the  Weser  and  the  Inn, 
but  Turenne." 

What  thus  we  have  said  in  plain  prose  was  ex- 
pressed in  immortal  verse  by  two  prophets  of  the 
nineteenth  century. 

Lowell  was  a  student  of  history.  This  was  his 
conclusion  upon  the  facts  of  history: 

"  Manhood  is  the  one  immortal  thing 
Beneath  Time's  changeful  sky." 

And  Tennyson  spoke  wath  equal  truth: 

"  Tho'  the  Giant  Ages  heave  the  hill 
And  break  the  shore,  and  evermore 
Make  and  break,  and  work  their  will; 
Tho'  world  on  world  in  myriad  myriads  roll 
Round  us,  each  with  different  powers, 
And  other  forms  of  life  than  ours, 
What  know  we  greater  than  the  soul? 
On  God,  and  Godlike  men,  we  build  our  trust." 


VII 

SOCIALISM 

THE  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brother- 
hood of  Man  are  fundamental  truths  of 
Christianity.  *'  All  ye  are  brethren/'  said 
Christ.  "  One  is  your  Father  which  is  in  heaven."  ^ 
He  expanded  the  thought  which  Moses  expressed 
during  the  Hebrew  servitude  in  Egypt.  ''  Sirs,  ye 
are  brethren.''  -  These  words  were  limited  then  to 
the  men  of  one  race.  But  Christ  bade  His  disciples 
to  go  "  into  all  the  world,  and  preach  the  gospel 
(the  glad  tidings)  to  every  creature  " — "  to  observe 
all  things,  whatsoever  I  have  commanded  you."  ® 
And  St.  Paul  declared  to  the  Athenians,  when  he 
stood  on  the  Areopagus — God,  *'  hath  made  of  one 
blood  all  nations  of  men  for  to  dwell  on  all  the 
face  of  the  earth."  "  In  Him  we  live  and  move 
and  have  our  being."  *  And  in  all  the  Epistles, 
the  fellow-disciples  are  addressed  as  brethren.  This 
was,  indeed,  "  glad  tidings  of  great  joy,  which  shall 
be  to  all  people,"  as  the  angels  announced  at  the 
birth  of  the  Saviour.^ 

When  Christianity  was  no  longer  persecuted,  and 
became  the  official  religion  of  the  Roman  Empire 

1  Matt.  23 :  8,  9.  ■*  Acts  17  :  26,  28,  29. 

^  Acts  23:  26,  *Luke2:ii, 

a  Mark  16:15;  ^latt.  28 :  20. 
80 


SOCIALISM  8i 

under  the  Emperor  Constantine,  the  rich  and  the 
powerful,  not  many  of  whom  were  members  of  the 
primitive  church,^  became  adherents  of  organized 
Christianity,  the  spirit  of  formaHsm  became  more 
influencive,  and  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
Brotherhood  of  Man  were  both  forgotten  by  many 
nominal  Christians.  To  true  believers,  however, 
they  continued  precious;  and  in  every  century  en- 
deavours were  made  by  groups  of  Christians  to 
improve  social  conditions,  by  the  application  to  daily 
conduct  of  fraternal  principles. 

In  the  last  two  centuries,  the  protest  against  social 
wrong  and  injustice,  which  are  unchristian,  has 
united  many  sincere  persons  into  groups,  and  finally 
into  organized  parties,  called  Socialists. 

Individual  leaders,  like  St.  Simon  and  Fourier, 
did  not  look  for  relief  to  a  re-organization  of  the 
State.  But  as  organized  parties,  socialists  now 
assume  an  attitude  of  antagonism  to  the  present 
systems  of  government,  and  to  the  present  organiza- 
tion of  society,  even  in  free  America.  For  example, 
the  platform  of  the  American  Socialist  party  in 
1912  denounces  what  it  calls,  "  the  capitalist  sys- 
tem "  which  is  the  existing  system  in  free  America, 
"  as  incompetent  and  corrupt,  and  the  source  of 
unspeakable  misery  and  suffering  to  the  whole  work- 
ing class.  .  .  .  The  overwhelming  majority  of  the 
people  of  America,  are  being  forced  under  a  yoke 
of  bondage  by  this  soulless  industrial  despotism." 
It  continues: 

"We  demand  the  collective  ownership  of  land 

« I  Cor.  1 :  26. 


82     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

and  also  of  the  banking  and  currency  system."  It 
declares  in  another  paragraph,  that, 

"  Such  measures  of  relief  as  we  may  be  able  to 
force  from  Capitalism  are  but  a  preparation  of  the 
workers  to  seize  the  whole  powers  of  government 
in  order  that  they  may  lay  hold  of  the  whole  system 
of  socialized  industry." 

A  practical  illustration  on  a  great  scale  of  Social- 
istic Democracy  has  just  been  seen  in  Russia.  No 
doubt  the  old  Russian  autocracy  was  cruel  and 
corrupt.  "  Oppression,"  we  are  told,  "  maketh  a 
wise  man  mad,"  and  it  is  no  wonder  that  millions, 
who  were  not  wise,  and  had  been  kept  in  ignorance 
by  their  rulers,  went  mad.  We  pity  them,  but  pity 
must  not  blind  our  eyes  to  the  character  and  conduct 
of  the  revolutionists. 

The  fundamental  principle  and  motive  power  of 
the  Russian  Revolution  is  the  same  spirit  of  hate 
which  American  Socialists  expressed  in  their  plat- 
form. Whatever  is,  is  wrong.  Capitalism  is  our 
enemy.  We  hate  that  and  will  confiscate  it.  The 
bourgeoisie  is  our  enemy.  We  must  rob  them  and 
make  them  slaves  to  us.  Discipline  is  hateful.  We 
abolish  it.  The  officers  in  the  Army  are  oppressors, 
because  they  enforced  discipline.  We  degrade  them, 
and  kill  them.  The  death  penalty  is  abolished,  when 
it  applies  to  us,  but  we  may  murder  with  impunity 
our  enemies.  Courts  of  justice  have  enforced  the 
law.  We  did  not  make  that  law.  Whether  bad  or 
good,  we  repudiate  it,  and  abolish  the  Courts  which 
administered  it.  A  graphic  picture  of  the  chaos 
is  given  by  an  English  observer.    A  group  of  work- 


SOCIALISM  83 

men  go  into  the  office  of  their  factory.  "  Get  out 
of  this  " — they  say  to  the  manager  and  clerks — 
"  We  will  work  for  you  no  longer,  you  must  work 
for  us."  "  And  what  will  you  do  ?  "  answered  the 
manager.  "  Sit  on  these  chairs,  smoke  cigarettes, 
and  sharpen  pencils,  just  as  you  do,"  was  the 
reply.  The  men  who  did  work  demanded  double 
pay  and  a  six  hour  day.  So  production  in  factories 
stopped. 

The  railways  fared  little  better  than  the  factories. 
Why  should  Comrade  (Tovarish)  Ivanovitch  run 
an  engine,  or  stoke  it?  Why  should  Comrade 
Basilovitch  watch  the  signals  and  turn  the  switches  ? 
Why  should  Comrade  Smolensky,  who  collects 
money  for  tickets,  turn  it  over  to  the  cashier?  So 
transportation  stopped. 

When  the  workmen  in  cities  had  consumed  all 
the  food  they  had  and  all  they  could  steal  from  the 
bourgeoisie,  they  sallied  forth  into  the  country. 
"  Comrade,"  they  said  to  the  peasant,  "  we  are  all 
brothers  now — give  us  some  of  your  wheat  or  rye, 
or  potatoes — whatever  you  have  got." 

"  Comrades,"  the  peasant  replied,  "  I  had  to  work 
for  this — give  me  in  return  clothing  that  you  have 
made,  or  sugar;  some  goods  that  you  have  worked 
for."  The  factory  comrades  had  in  part  quit 
work,  but  they  had  some  goods  for  barter.  Where 
they  could  not  barter,  they  fought  for  food  with 
the  peasants,  like  apes  in  a  cage. 

The  peasants,  not  to  be  outdone,  robbed  the 
chateaux  of  the  landowners,  often  burned  them,  and 
turned  the  women  and  children  out  to  starve.    Thus 


84     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

Russia,  wherever  the  Bolshevists  controlled,  became 
a  chaos,  which  they  called  Democracy,  but  which 
was  really  a  despotism  more  cruel  than  that  of  the 
Czar. 

Naturally  they  became  an  easy  prey  to  the 
German  armies.  In  Discord  is  Weakness.  Their 
weak  and  greedy  rulers  made  the  shameful  treaty  of 
Brest-Litovsk,  whereby  they  bartered  for  a  mess 
of  pottage — immunity  for  their  wretched  selves — 
provinces  which  were  not  theirs,  and  promised  in- 
demnity in  billions  of  roubles,  which  were  not  theirs 
to  give. 

As  the  natural  consequence  of  this  chaos — an- 
other word  for  lawlessness — Russia  is  desolated  by 
famine  and  pestilence.  This  frightful  debacle  is  the 
direct  result  of  the  doctrines  which  were  taught 
by  Lenine  and  Trotzky  and  the  other  Russian  Social- 
ists. For  example,  when  Comrade  Trotzky  was 
living  in  New  York — not  earning  an  honest  living, 
like  a  man — a  mere  "  fighting  agitator,"  he  made 
a  speech  in  Beethoven  Hall,  March  25,  19 17.  Henry 
Moskowitz  thus  reports  him :  ^ 

"  Trotzky  depicted  the  world  war  as  the  clash 

■^  Henry  Moskowitz  in  the  Outlook,  reprinted  in  New  York 
Times,  Feb.  10,  1918,  p.  12.  See  also  George  Kennan's 
article:  "Russia  in  Upheaval"  Outlook.  Oct.  2,  1918,  p.  166.  _ 

This  melancholy  condition,  Carlyle  describes  with  prophetic 
instinct  in  his  '"Sartor  Resartus,"  Bk.  Ill,  Ch.  Ill: 

"  Men  were  no  longer  social,  but  gregarious ;  which  latter 
state  also  could  not  continue,  but  must  gradually  issue  in 
universal  selfish  discord,  hatred,  savage  isolation,  and  dis- 
persion." 

The  Bolshevist  Constitution  (New  York  Times,  Sept.  6, 
1918),  declares  "it  is  necessary  to  destroy  the  existing 
social  structure." 


SOCIALISM  85 

of  capitalistic  states  in  their  race  for  world  empire. 
.  .  .  He  contrasted  the  conflict  of  interests  of  the 
capitalistic  states,  with  the  common  interests  of  the 
workers  of  the  world,  and  pointed  out  that  there 
was  only  one  war  in  which  the  workers  of  all  lands 
were  concerned — the  class  struggle;  and  only  one 
enemy — capitalism." 

This  message  of  hate  and  war  was  preached 
secretly  in  Russia.  Whatever  measure  of  freedom 
had  been  granted  by  the  Czar  was  discredited.  The 
Duma  was  not  a  British  Parliament  nor  an  Ameri- 
can Congress.  But  it  was  an  advance.  Trotzky 
and  his  associates  called  it  a  "  bourgeois  "  institu- 
tion.   For  them  that  was  the  worst  of  epithets. 

Thus  have  they  proved  themselves  the  "  ablest 
architects  of  ruin  the  world  ever  saw."  The  Rus- 
sian peasant  (moujik)  had  reverence  for  the  Czar. 
He  was  dethroned,  and  the  Bolshevists  murdered 
him.  The  peasants  had  reverence  for  the  Church. 
That  form  of  organized  Christianity  had  preserved 
imperfectly  the  spirit  of  Christ.  Still  it  did  stand 
for  order,  duty,  honesty,  respect  for  the  rights  of 
others.  Therefore  the  Bolshevists  hated  it.  They 
looted  the  churches,  and  persecuted  the  priests. 

This  is  Russian  Socialism.  American  Democracy 
rests  on  the  proposition  that  all  men  should  have 
equal  civil  rights,  which  should  be  guaranteed  by 
written  Constitutions  and  enforced  by  impartial 
courts,  behind  which  stands  all  the  power  of  gov- 
ernment. It  does  not  assume  that  all  men  have  equal 
powers,  or  that  they  should  live  on  a  dead  level.  It 
recognizes  that  their  powers  and  qualifications  are 


86     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

different.  American  Democratic  government  en- 
deavours to  give  to  each  an  opportunity  to  make 
the  most  of  his  particular  quaHfications.  It  recog- 
nizes all  labour  as  honourable.  It  requires  of  every 
individual  that  he  shall  use  his  talents  and 
avail  of  his  opportunities  to  the  utmost  so  as  to 
produce  the  greatest  good  for  the  whole.  An  es- 
sential part  of  American  Democracy  is  security  to 
individual  rights,  which  are  protected  by  impartial 
courts  of  justice.  These  rights  are  defined  in 
written  Constitutions.  The  powers  of  government 
are  limited  by  these.  In  short  the  majority  rules, 
but  it  is  a  limited,  not  a  despotic  rule. 

Socialism,  as  we  see  it  defined  in  the  socialist 
platform  demands  "  the  abolition  of  the  power 
usurped  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States 
to  pass  upon  the  constitutionality  of  the  legislation 
enacted  by  Congress."  It  demands  the  "  abolition 
of  all  Federal  District  Courts  and  the  United  States 
Circuit  Courts  of  Appeal,"  "the  election  of  all 
judges  for  short  terms  " ;  and  "  the  immediate  curb- 
ing of  the  power  of  the  courts  to  issue  injunc- 
tions." « 

Thus  it  would  return  to  mediaeval  despotism,  and 
deprive  the  judges  of  power  and  independence. 
Their  terms  would  be  really  at  the  pleasure  of  the 
electors — not  during  good  behaviour.  The  Act  of 
Congress,  not  the  Constitution,  would  be  the  su- 
preme law  of  the  land.  Nothing  would  prevent 
Congress  from  passing  bills  of  attainder — as  the 
British  Parliament  did  before  the  Bill  of  Rights — 

8  World  Almanac,  191 3,  p.  699. 


SOCIALISM  87 

which  condemned  unpopular  persons  to  death  with- 
out a  trial. 

This  exaltation  of  a  temporary  majority,  and  giv- 
ing it  unbridled  power,  is  opposed  diametrically  to 
Christian  Ethics  as  taught  in  the  New  Testament. 
St.  Paul  and  St.  Peter  concur  in  teaching  obedience 
to  law,  submission  to  the  authority  of  judges  (the 
Roman  procurators)  rendering  to  all  men  their  due. 
St.  Peter  sums  it  up  in  one  sentence — "  Honour 
all  men,  love  the  brotherhood,  fear  (reverence) 
God,  honour  the  King."  ^ 

St.  Paul  constantly  speaks  of  Christian  society 
as  a  body  composed  of  many  members,  performing 
different  functions,  all  combined  in  mutual  help- 
fulness. "  The  e}e  cannot  say  to  the  hand,  I  have 
no  need  of  thee ;  nor  again,  the  head  to  the  feet,  I 
have  no  need  of  you.  Nay,  much  more,  those  mem- 
bers of  the  body  which  seem  to  be  more  feeble,  are 
necessary, — God  hath  tempered  the  body  together, 
having  given  more  abundant  honour  to  that  part 
which  lacked;  that  there  should  be  no  schism  in  the 
body;  but  that  the  members  should  nave  the  same 
care  one  for  another.  And  whether  one  member 
suffer,  all  the  members  suffer  with  it ;  or  one  mem- 
ber be  honoured,  all  the  members  rejoice  with  it."  ^^ 
Then  he  points  out  the  different  parts  that  individ- 
uals play  in  the  social  union,  which  is  to  him  a 
divine  union.  "Ye  are  the  body  of  Christ,  and 
severally  members  thereof."  ^^ 

»i  Pet.  2:13-15:  Rom.  13:1-8. 
10  I  Cor.  12:14-26;  Titus  3:1. 
"I  Cor.  12:27-30  R.  V. 


88     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

This  body,  however  diverse  its  members  and  their 
condition,  is  pervaded  by  the  divine  spirit  of  Christ. 
"  In  one  spirit  were  we  all  baptized  into  one  body, 
whether  Jews  or  Gentiles,  whether  bond  or  free; 
and  were  all  made  to  drink  of  one  Spirit."  ^^ 

In  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  he  expresses  the 
same  thought  in  even  more  exalted  strains.  These 
are  well  rendered  in  the  Twentieth  Century  Testa- 
ment :  ^^ 

"  Every  one  of  us  however  has  been  entrusted  with 
some  charge,  each  in  accordance  with  the  extent  of 
the  gift  of  the  Christ.  .  .  .  This  shall  continue  until 
we  all  attain  to  that  unity  which  is  given  by  faith 
and  by  a  fuller  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God;  until 
we  reach  the  ideal  man,  the  full  standard  of  the  per- 
fection of  the  Christ.  Then  we  shall  be  no  longer 
like  infants,  tossed  backward  and  forward,  blown 
about  by  every  breath  of  human  teaching,  through  the 
trickery,  and  the  craftiness  of  men,  towards  the 
snares  of  error;  but  holding  the  truth  in  the  spirit  of 
love,  we  shall  grow  into  complete  union  with  Him 
who  is  our  Head — Christ  Himself.  For  from  Him  the 
whole  body,  closely  joined  and  knit  together  by  the 
contact  of  every  part  with  the  source  of  its  life,  de- 
rives its  power  to  grow,  in  proportion  to  the  vigour 
of  each  individual  part,  and  so  is  being  built  up  in  a 
spirit  of  love." 

The  whole  pitiful  condition  of  Russia  is  the 
result  of  a  disregard  of  these  fundamental  Christian 
ideals.  Their  teachers  have  forsaken  the  fountain 
of  living  waters,  and  have  hewn  out  for  themselvei* 
broken  cisterns  that  can  hold  no  water. 

12  I  Cor.  12 :  13,  R.  V.  "  Eph.  4 :  7-16. 


SOCIALISM  89 

When  attention  is  called  to  these  Christian  teach- 
ings, socialists  sometimes  bring  forward  the  account 
of  the  first  Christians  at  Jerusalem,  of  whom  it  is 
recorded :  ^*  "  The  multitude  of  them  that  believed 
w^ere  of  one  heart  and  one  soul,  neither  said  any 
of  them  that  aught  of  the  things  that  he  possessed 
was  his  own,  but  they  had  all  things  in 
common." 

The  spirit  of  these  enthusiastic  converts  is  the 
true  Christian  spirit.  Every  man  who  has  lands  or 
goods,  should  feel  that  they  are  the  gifts  of  God, 
to  be  held  by  him  in  trust,  and  used  for  the  good  of 
his  fellow-men.  But  we  are  nowhere  told  that  the 
particular  community  method  adopted  by  these  early 
Jerusalem  Christians  was  the  wisest.  A  few  years 
afterwards,  we  find  that  the  Jerusalem  Christians 
w^ere  poor  and  St.  Paul  took  up  collections  for  them 
in  Galatia,  in  Macedonia  and  in  Corinth.^'^ 

The  community  method,  in  every  age,  has  ap- 
pealed to  some  zealous  souls,  and  certainly  they  are 
to  be  honoured.  But  to  make  their  method  a  rule 
of  obligation,  binding  on  all  men,  is  opposed  to  the 
teaching  of  the  New  Testament.  To  do  honest 
work  according  to  the  ability  that  God  gives  to  each, 
to  respect  the  rights  of  others,  to  honour  all  men, 
each  in  his  place  and  according  to  the  use  he  makes 
of  his  talents,  this  is  Christianity.  These  are  the 
principles  of  the  American  Constitution,  and  to  the 
observance  of  them,  with  the  blessing  of  God  upon 
those  who  do  keep  His  commandments,  and  do  those 

1*  Acts  4:32;  2:  44.  45. 

15 1  Cor.  16:1-4;  Rom.  15:25-26;  Acts  24:17. 


90     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

things  that  are  pleasing  in  His  sight,  our  unex- 
ampled prosperity  is  due. 

The  fundamental  proposition  upon  which  social- 
ists base  their  argument  for  socialism  is  this :  "  The 
vast,  overwhelming  majority  of  the  people  of  this 
country  are  poor  and  steadily  growing  poorer." 
This  is  one  of  the  plausible  statements  that  will  not 
stand  the  test  of  examination.  It  is  true  that  there 
are  more  poor,  but  the  proportion  is  less. 

Let  us  examine  the  facts  as  given  in  the  last 
census.  First  let  us  consider  the  farmers.  The 
value  of  farm  property  in  the  United  States  doubled 
between  1899  ^"^  1909.  The  value  of  the  farm 
crops  produced  on  these  farms  increased  83  per 
cent.  The  amount  of  the  increase  was  two  billion, 
four  hundred  and  eighty-eight  million  dollars.  This 
certainly  does  not  look  like  increasing  poverty. 
Then  examine  the  figures  for  those  engaged  in 
manufacturing.  The  percentage  of  increase  in  popu- 
lation from  1900  to  1910  was  21  per  cent.  The 
percentage  of  increase  of  wage  earners  engaged  in 
manufacturing  was  the  same;  but  the  average  wage 
to  each  wage  earner  increased  31  per  cent.  This 
certainly  does  not  look  like  increasing  poverty.  No 
doubt,  the  cost  of  living  also  increased.  But  the 
average  increase  of  wages  kept  pace  with  that,  be- 
fore the  war.  The  conditions  produced  by  the 
world  war  are  anomalous  and  transitory.  Under 
these,  some  wages  have  trebled,  the  income  of  others 
has  not  increased.  That  inequality  we  must  en- 
deavour gradually  to  rectify. 

The  operation  of  the  Income  Tax  is  often  re- 


SOCIALISM  91 

ferred  to  in  this  connection,  and  stress  is  laid  on 
the  comparatively  small  number  who  pay  an  in- 
come tax  direct  to  the  government.  This  argument 
overlooks  the  obvious  fact  that  the  smaller  incomes 
are  not  taxable  and  yet  enable  their  owners  to  live 
in  comfort.  But  for  other  reasons  the  figures  as  to 
the  number  of  persons  in  the  United  States  who 
pay  an  income  tax  are  misleading.  The  taxable 
income  is  different  from  the  actual  income.  A  man 
may  have  $100,000  invested  in  municipal  bonds. 
He  pays  no  tax  on  his  income  from  these  bonds.  A 
man  may  have  the  same  amount  invested  in  stocks 
of  corporations,  which  themselves  pay  a  tax  on  their 
income.  These  receipts  of  the  stockholder  are  not 
taxed  in  his  hands.  So  it  may  well  happen  that  a 
man  might  have  an  income  of  $6,000  a  year  and 
not  pay  a  penny  of  incom.e  tax  directly  to  the 
United  States  government. 

Again  take  the  case  of  the  farmer  or  any  other 
producer  who  lives  in  his  own  house.  The  use  of 
this  house  and  of  the  land  connected  with  it  is  a 
valuable  thing  and  enhances  the  comfort  of  the  man 
that  lives  in  it,  but  on  this  also  no  income  tax  is 
paid.  The  income  tax  is  predicated  solely  on  cash 
receipts.  Not  only  is  no  account  taken  of  the  use 
of  the  property  on  which  a  man  lives  or  w^hich  he 
cultivates,  but  no  account  of  the  benefits  which 
wage  earners  receive  independent  of  their  wages. 
For  example,  a  domestic  servant  living  in  her  em- 
ployer's house  often  receives  $40  a  month  or  more; 
sometimes  much  more.  This  is  about  $10  a  week 
and  in  the  averaging  of  incomes  she  is  credited  only 


92     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

with  that.  But  she  has  her  home,  her  food,  her 
light,  her  rooms  and  heating  without  expense  to 
her.  She  really  receives  for  her  services  the  value 
of  $75  to  $80  a  month.  Again,  take  another  in- 
stance of  which  many  will  have  personal  knowledge. 
A  widow  is  left  with  sons  and  daughters  over  the 
age  of  fourteen.  They  go  to  work.  The  young 
people  probably  for  the  first  year  or  two  will  not 
receive  more  than  ten  dollars  a  week  each.  But  the 
average  income  of  the  whole  family  is  $40  or  $50  a 
week.  On  this  they  live  comfortably.  The  author's 
own  observation  is  that  in  such  cases  the  children 
grow  up  more  intelligent,  more  independent,  more 
helpful  to  their  mother,  are  more  industrious  and 
become  better  citizens  than  if  the  mother  had  been 
pensioned  by  the  State. 

The  American  idea  from  the  first  was  to  give  an 
opportunity  to  every  citizen  to  improve  his  condi- 
tion. By  the  practice  of  this  principle  we  have  pros- 
pered. The  best  evidence  of  this  is  shown  by  the 
immigration  to  this  country.  If  the  people  who 
come  here  in  such  crowds  from  other  countries 
did  not  like  our  conditions,  they  would  not  come, 
or,  if  misled  into  coming,  they  would  return.  Mary 
Antin  in  her  wonderful  book,  "The  Promised 
Land,"  and  Mr.  Rihbany  in  his  "  Memoirs,"  show 
clearly  the  satisfaction  with  which  immigrants  ac- 
cept and  benefit  by  American  conditions.  Mr.  Rih- 
bany for  example  tells  us :  ^* 

"  I  was  told  while  in  Syria  that  in  America  money 
oculd  be  picked  up  everywhere.     That  was  not  true. 
^8  Rihbany,  "  A  Far  Journey,"  p.  2'j'j. 


SOCIALISM  93 

But  I  found  that  infinitely  better  things  than  money — 
knowledge,  freedom,  self-reliance,  order,  cleanliness, 
sovereign  human  rights,  self-government,  and  all  that 
these  great  accomplishments  imply, — can  be  picked  up 
everywhere  in  America  by  whosoever  earnestly  seeks 
them." 

But  we  do  not  need  to  go  either  to  statistics  of 
the  census,  or  to  the  report  of  these  intelligent 
foreigners  to  be  sure  that  the  statement  is  untrue 
upon  which  socialistic  propaganda  is  based.  The 
author  has  given  close  personal  attention  to  the 
condition  of  the  plain  people  in  New  York  City  and 
on  the  farms  of  Vermont  and  New  York.  He 
knows  from  experience  and  observation  that  the 
people  of  New  York  are  much  better  clothed  and 
fed  and  housed  than  they  were  sixty  years  ago; 
the  streets  are  cleaner,  better  lighted ;  the  water  sup- 
ply is  more  ample,  the  means  of  transportation  from 
one  part  of  the  city  to  another  are  more  adequate ; 
libraries,  parks,  and  playgrounds  have  greatly  multi- 
plied; the  whole  condition  of  city  life  is  more 
healthful  than  it  was  sixt}^  years  ago.  The  schools 
are  more  numerous  even  in  proportion  to  the  great 
advance  in  population,  and  are  better  equipped  and 
better  taught.  The  churches  and  synagogues  are 
more  active  and  reach  larger  portions  of  the  com- 
munity. Activity  in  philanthropic  work  is  far 
greater  and  more  general.  In  short,  we  have  made 
enormous  progress  during  this  period,  so  that  the 
majority  of  Americans  can  and  do  live  decent,  nor- 
mal, useful,  and  happy  lives. 

About  the  time  of  the  Civil  War  the  attention  of 


94     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

Christian  and  benevolent  people  was  awakened  to 
the  crowding  of  families  in  the  cities  of  that  day. 
These  cities  would  not  now  be  called  great,  but 
there  was  worse  congestion  than  at  present.  Com- 
mittees were  appointed  in  New  York  and  other 
'cities  to  investigate  the  subject.  Public  interest 
was  aroused.  Alfred  White,  in  Brooklyn  and  many 
others  showed  what  could  be  done  in  the  way  of 
improving  tenements  in  cities.  These  have  in- 
creased in  convenience.  Tenement  House  Commis- 
sioners have  been  authorized  to  supervise  them. 
Great  companies  have  been  formed  to  construct 
model  buildings.  It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
there  were  no  buildings  in  America  seventy-five 
years  ago  that  had  the  comfort  and  convenience  of 
the  improved  tenements  that  are  now  inhabited  in 
the  city  of  New  York.  In  Philadelphia  and  in 
Baltimore  the  tendency  has  been  to  put  up  small 
houses  covering  a  larger  area.  Different  cities  have 
different  conditions,  and  naturally  deal  with  the  sub- 
ject in  different  ways.  But  in  every  part  of  the 
United  States  improvement  in  the  houses  of  the 
plain  people  is  progressive.  Except  in  a  few  iso- 
lated districts  no  decent  American  family  now  lives 
in  such  a  house  as  that  in  which  Abraham  Lincoln 
was  born. 

Thus  have  we  happily  combined  individual  initia- 
tive with  legal  regulation.  But  the  socialist  plan 
put  into  plain  English  is  this.  At  every  election 
the  majority  of  the  voters  will  choose  officers  who 
will  have  authority  to  compel  every  individual  to  do 
the  work  which  the  elected  taskmaster  thinks  he 


SOCIALISM  95 

ought  to  do,  and  will  be  compelled  to  receive  such 
compensation  as  the  taskmasters  choose  to  allot. 
Collective  ownership  of  the  whole  system  of  social- 
ized industry  certainly  cannot  mean  that  every  per- 
son can  use  everything.  What  each  person  is  to  use, 
and  what  each  person  is  to  do,  in  order  to  produce 
what  is  used,  must  either  be  determined  by  that  in- 
dividual under  our  present  system,  or  it  must  be 
determined  by  elective  taskmasters  under  the  social- 
ized system.  And  that  is  slavery  pure  and  simple. 
There  was  a  time  in  this  country  when  many  good 
people  thought  that  was  a  good  system.  Chancellor 
Harper  of  South  Carolina,  nearly  eighty  years  ago 
made  the  following  description  of  slavery:  ^' 

"  If  some  superior  being  would  impose  on  the 
labouring  poor  of  any  country  this  as  his  unalterable 
condition:  you  shall  be  free  from  the  torturing 
anxiety  concerning  your  own  future  support  and  that 
of  your  children,  which  now  pursues  you  through  life 
and  haunts  you  in  death ;  you  shall  be  under  the  neces- 
sity of  regular  and  healthful,  though  not  excessive 
labour,  and  in  return  you  shall  have  the  ample  supply 
of  your  natural  wants ;  you  may  follow  the  instincts 
of  nature  in  becoming  parents  without  apprehending 
that  this  supply  would  fail  yourself  or  your  children ; 
you  shall  be  supported  and  relieved  in  sickness,  and 
in  old  age  wear  out  the  remains  of  existence  among 
familiar  scenes  and  faces  without  being  driven  to  beg, 
or  to  resort  to  the  hard  and  miserable  charity  of  the 
workhouse ;  you  shall  of  necessity  be  tempted,  but 
shall  have  neither  the  temptations  nor  the  opportuni- 
ties to  commit  great  crime  or  practice  the  more 
destructive  vices,  how  inappreciable  would  the  boon 
be  thought." 

IT  "Lives  of  Great  Lawyers,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  2^2, 


96     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

This  system  was  tried  on  a  great  scale  in  the  slave 
States.  Its  results  were  so  bad  that  the  majority  of 
the  American  people  spent  billions  of  money  and 
sacrificed  thousands  of  lives  to  subvert  it.  That 
is  really  the  system  which  socialists  want  to  re- 
establish in  this  country.  They  call  it  brotherhood. 
But  in  the  words  of  Walter  Scott  : 

"  It  is  by  giving  fair  names  to  foul  actions  that  those 
who  would  start  at  real  vice  are  led  to  practise  its 
lessons  under  the  disguise  of  virtue." 

We  appreciate  the  motives  which  lead  some 
warm-hearted  and  well-meaning  men  to  seek  in 
socialism  a  remedy  for  sin  and  suffering.  But  there 
is  but  one  panacea,  and  that  is  ''  the  everlasting 
gospel  "of  Christ.  The  Episcopal  Church  teaches 
every  child — "  My  duty  to  my  neighbour  is  to  love 
him  as  myself  and  to  do  unto  all  men  as  I  would 
they  should  do  unto  me."  All  Christian  churches  in 
substance  teach  the  same.  It  is  because  some  men 
have  forgotten  this  duty,  and  few  have  fully  per- 
formed it,  that  there  still  remain  so  much  sin  and 
suffering.  But  the  duty  is  individual.  Love  is  not 
to  be  attained  by  collective  ownership.  And  the 
Episcopal  Church  does  not  stop  with  these  general 
principles.  In  her  great  Manual,  which  is  taught 
to  every  child  and  which  grown  men  must  not  for- 
get, it  is  plainly  declared  to  be  part  of  each  man's 
duty  **  not  to  covet  or  desire  other  men's  goods,  but 
to  learn  and  labour  truly  to  get  mine  own  living, 
and  to  do  my  duty  in  that  state  of  life  to  which 
it  shall  please  God  to  call  me."    This  is  not  neces- 


SOCIALISM  97 

sarily  the  state  of  one's  parent,  but  the  state  for 
which  each  man  is  fitted  according  to  the  gifts  which 
God  has  given  him. 

The  crime  of  sociahsm  is  that  it  teaches  its  fol- 
lowers to  covet  the  goods  of  other  men,  and  to  seek 
their  living — not  by  honest  labour,  but  by  robbing 
their  fellows.  Thus  they  break  two  commandments. 
Extremists  go  farther  and  teach  not  only  commun- 
ity of  goods,  but  of  wives.^^  They  argue  that  to 
kill  the  man  who  has  property  is  the  best  way  to  get 
the  spoils.  That  is  the  Bolshevist  method.  Let 
good  Christians  turn  to  the  better  life  of  love  and 
obedience  that  Christ  and  the  Christian  Church 
alike  make  plain. 

In  what  has  been  said,  we  have  considered  social- 
ism on  the  basis  of  the  platform  of  the  party  in  the 
United  States.  We  are  well  aware  that  socialism 
is  not  a  term  susceptible  of  accurate  definition. 
Some  good  men  lil:e  Kingsley  and  Maurice  in  Eng- 
land have  been  called  Christian  Socialists.  There 
have  been  such  in  America.  They  have  taught  the 
brotherhood  of  man  and  condemned  all  violations 
of  duty  which  tend  to  break  up  this  brotherhood 
and  produce  hatred  in  its  stead.  They  deserve  and 
receive  honour  and  gratitude  as  the  Kingsley  cen- 
tenary attests. 

It  was  part  of  their  duty  to  teach  the  Gospel  of 

18  In  the  testimony  of  R.  E,  Simmons  before  the  Judiciary- 
Committee,  U.  S.  Senate,  printed  in  New  York  Times, 
Feb.  i8,  1919,  he  gives  copies  of  these  Bolshevist  decrees, 
establishing  community  of  sexual  intercourse,  in  effect  abol- 
ishing marriage,  and  providing  for  bringing  up  children  by 
the  State. 


98     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

love  and  to  point  out  and  condemn  hatred,  greed, 
selfishness,  envy.  But  that  is  the  reverse  of  an 
indiscriminate  attack  upon  existing  conditions. 
"  He  that  justifieth  the  wicked  and  he  that  con- 
demneth  the  just,  even  they  both  are  abomination 
to  the  Lord." '' 

What  our  fathers  strove  to  accomplish,  and  what 
they  did  accomplish,  was  to  send  down  upon  the 
dry  and  parched  field  a  refreshing  shower  that 
would  quicken  every  drooping  plant.  What  the 
revolutionists  are  striving  to  produce  is  a  flood,  like 
that  in  Ohio  in  19 13,  which  sweeps  away  the  results 
of  toil  and  experience,  and  makes  a  desert  where 
once  there  was  fertility.  This  they  have  done  in 
Russia  and  are  doing  in  Hungary. 

Again  it  is  frequently  asserted  and  often  believed 
that  the  advantages  of  machinery  have  gone  to  capi- 
tal and  not  to  labour  and  that  the  workmen  do  not 
get  a  fair  share  of  the  products  of  industry. 
"  Envy,"  says  Longfellow,  "  is  the  vice  of  Repub- 
lics." The  fallacy  of  the  assertion  referred  to  con- 
sists in  overlooking  the  fact  that  the  great  fortunes 
are  exceptional.  The  aggregate  share  of  the  prod- 
ucts of  industry  received  by  the  workmen  is  far 
greater  than  the  dividends  of  the  captains  of  in- 
dustry. The  general  gets  higher  pay  than  the  pri- 
vate soldier,  but  the  total  pay  of  the  soldiers  is  far 
more  than  that  of  the  generals.  When,  for  example, 
Mr.  Armour  died  there  was  a  great  outcry  because 
he  had  left  a  large  fortune.  This  cry  subsided  when 
it  was  pointed  out  that  if  this  fortune  had  been 

i»Prov.  17:15. 


SOCIALISM  99 

divided  among  the  people  of  the  United  States  it 
would  give  to  each  about  fifty  cents. 

There  are  a  few  great  captains  of  industry.  God 
has  given  to  them  the  talent  to  devise  great  com- 
binations or  useful  inventions,  it  may  be  to  build  a 
railroad ;  it  may  be  to  erect  a  vast  factory ;  it  may  be 
to  supply  a  great  city  with  water.  Such  a  man 
was  James  J.  Hill,  who  has  recently  died.  The 
financial  rewards  to  such  a  man  are  large.  But 
these  rewards  do  not  compare,  in  the  aggregate, 
with  what  those  receive  who  benefit  by  the  results 
of  their  talent  and  their  capital. 

The  author,  when  a  boy,  worked  sometimes  on  his 
grandfather's  farm  in  Vermont.  At  that  time  the 
mowing  machine,  the  reaper,  and  harvester  had  not 
been  invented.  This  machinery  has  done  more  for 
the  advantage  of  the  man  who  mows  or  reaps  than 
it  has  for  the  inventors  of  those  useful  machines 
or  for  the  men  who  furnished  the  capital  which 
enabled  them  to  be  put  on  the  market  and  sold. 
There  is,  for  example,  no  comparison  between  the 
labour  involved  in  driving  a  span  of  horses  hitched 
to  a  mowing  machine  or  a  reaper  and  that  involved 
in  mowing  with  a  scythe  or  reaping  with  a  cradle. 
The  same  is  true  of  the  machinery  and  the  processes 
used  in  the  refining  of  crude  petroleum.  Vast  as 
are  the  fortunes  that  have  been  made  by  the  men 
who  invested  their  capital  in  the  experiments  which 
resulted  in  the  refining  of  this  petroleum  and  the 
creation  of  its  manifold  products,  they  do  not  com- 
pare with  the  advantages  which  have  accrued  to  the 
working  people  all  over  the  world  who  use  these 


loo     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

products.  There  is  perhaps  no  country  in  which 
kerosene  oil  is  not  used  for  Hght  and  heat.  A  cen- 
tury ago  the  tallow  on  farms  was  melted  in  kettles 
and  used  in  making  tallow  dips.  The  best  oil  avail- 
able was  whale  oil,  which  furnished  inferior  light, 
at  a  much  greater  cost  than  that  at  which  light  is 
now  supplied  from  our  common  kerosene.  And  so 
we  might  go  through  the  whole  list  of  the  great 
inventions  which  have  come  into  common  use  in 
the  past  sixty  years. 

Let  us  mention  one  more.  Can  there  be  a  doubt 
that  the  benefits  to  the  working  man  from  the 
manifold  electrical  inventions  have  been  far  greater 
than  those  which  have  accrued  to  either  Bell  or 
Edison  ?  Labour  managed  to  get  along  for  centuries 
though  under  great  difficulties,  without  any  of  these 
inventions.  They  have  been  brought  into  common 
use  by  the  united  skill  of  the  inventor  and  the 
capitalist,  and  have  benefited  the  labouring  man  be- 
yond expression.  Labour  of  itself  is  just  as  limited 
in  power  without  the  directing  skill  of  the  intelligent 
owner  of  capital,  as  the  hand  is  without  direction  of 
the  brain. 

The  fundamental  principle  of  American  Democ- 
racy is  that  the  man  or  woman  who  is  thrifty,  in- 
dustrious, and  honest  shall  have  an  opportunity  to 
better  his  condition,  save  something  from  the  result 
of  his  toil,  and  thus  climb  to  a  higher  level.  Society 
does  not  owe  any  man  a  living.  It  owes  him  the 
opportunity  to  earn  his  own  living.  All  wealth  is 
the  result  of  co-operation  and  whatever  tends  to 
produce  enmity  between  the  creative  mind  that  plans 


SOCIALISM  loi 

the  work  and  the  industrious  hand  that  does  it, 
cripples  both  the  head  and  the  hand.  The  American 
conception  of  democracy  is  to  give  to  each  citizen 
an  opportunity  to  make  the  most  of  his  natural 
gifts,  to  restrain  him  from  unlawful  interference 
with  the  rights  of  his  neighbour,  and  to  teach  him  to 
rely  for  success  on  the  blessing  of  God,  and  on  his 
own  honest  industry  and  dauntless  courage.  This 
is  the  law  of  God,  and  our  fathers  embodied  it  in 
our  Constitution.  Emerson  only  paraphrases  the 
words  of  Scripture  when  he  describes  the  Lord  say- 
ing to  the  people  of  America : 

"  I  cause  from  every  creature 
His  proper  good  to  flow; 
As  much  as  he  is  and  doeth. 
So  much  he  shall  bestow. 

"  The  world  was  made   for  honest  trade. 
To  plant  and  eat  be  none  afraid. 

"  For  he  that  worketh  high  and  wise, 
Nor  pauses  in  his  plan 
Shall  take  the  sun  out  of  the  skies, 
Ere  freedom  out  of  man." 

American  Freedom  is  the  child  of  American 
Democracy.  It  involves  equal  rights  and  equal 
duties.  It  involves  on  the  one  hand  the  supremacy 
of  law,  on  the  other  it  means  freedom  from  need- 
less governmental  restraint.  The  distinctive  Ameri- 
can idea  which  we  ought  to  cherish  sacredly  and 
from  which  we  should  never  depart  is  that  the 
;  greatest  good  of  the  greatest  number  can  be  best 


I02      A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

achieved  by  giving  to  each  individual  the  right  to 
work  out  his  own  salvation. 

Long  before  1789  other  nations  had  tried  forms 
of  government  in  which  the  will  of  the  public  of- 
ficials was  supreme  and  in  which  the  individual  had 
no  protection  from  arbitrary  power.  By  the  law 
of  the  Roman  Empire  the  will  of  the  Prince  was 
paramount.  He  had  the  right  by  special  decree  to 
interpret  statutes  in  reference  to  cases  pending  in 
the  courts : 

Sic  Volo,  sic  JiibcOj  stet  pro  Ratione  Voluntas. 

The  result  was  t3Tanny,  not  freedom. 

The  Legislative  Assembly  in  France  in  the  days 
of  the  Directory  had  unlimited  powers.  They  were 
constantly  depriving  citizens  of  life,  liberty,  and 
property  without  due  process  of  lav/.  The  result 
was  justly  called  the  Reign  of  Terror,  and  it  re- 
sulted in  national  ruin  and  disgrace.  At  last  Na- 
poleon got  into  the  saddle  and  at  least  gave  the 
people  security  and  order.  All  experience  shows 
that  the  honest,  hardworking  people  w^ho  are  the 
real  life  and  strength  of  a  nation  will  not  long  sub- 
mit to  be  plundered  or  oppressed  by  public  officers, 
even  though  these  were  selected  by  a  temporary 
majority  of  voters.  The  real  majority  will  have 
security  and  order  at  any  cost.  The  American 
method,  embodied  in  the  American  Constitution, 
maintains  security  and  preserves  order,  and  pro- 
tects the  life,  liberty,  and  property  of  the  individual 
from  unlawful  restraint  or  interference.  It  is  a 
distinct  evolution  in  civilization.  To  it  in  large 
measure  we  owe  that  security  and  good  government 


SOCIALISM  103 

which  have  stimulated  our  youth  to  dihgent  en- 
deavour, and  made  us  on  the  whole  a  happy  and 
prosperous  people.  The  American  system  is  a  suc- 
cess ;  a  glorious,  unprecedented  success.  Americans 
will  remove  existing  wrongs  and  cure  existing  evils 
by  a  process  of  regeneration  and  not  undertake  a  so- 
cial revolution.  Our  campaign  will  be  conducted  in 
the  spirit  of  love  and  not  in  the  spirit  of  hate.  We 
believe  with  Bishop  Henry  C.  Potter,  "  The  world 
is  not  waiting  for  regeneration  by  machinery,  but 
regeneration  by  love." 

Of  the  truth  of  what  has  been  said,  the  action  of 
the  American  people  during  the  recent  world  war 
is  the  best  possible  proof.  If  the  system  prevailing 
in  this  country  had  been,  as  some  zealots  declare,  a 
system  of  wage  slavery,  if  the  employers,  called 
capitalists  by  the  socialists,  had  been  oppressors,  the 
spirit  and  temper  of  the  people  would  have  been 
corrupted  and  debased.  None  but  a  free  people 
could  possibly  have  risen  to  the  exigencies  of  the 
situation  with  such  absolute  devotion  and  self-sacri- 
fice. The  exceptions  have  been  so  few  as  to  make 
the  practical  unanimity  more  conspicuous.  No  sac- 
rifice of  life  or  personal  interest  or  fortune  has  been 
too  great  for  the  American  people.  There  could  be 
no  better  proof  of  the  soundness  of  the  principles 
which  are  the  foundation  of  the  American  govern- 
ment than  the  readiness  with  which  the  American 
people  has  adapted  itself  to  an  extraordinary  strain. 
It  did  this  during  the  Civil  War,  but  has  done  it 
even  more  absolutely  and  with  far  greater  unani- 
mity during  the  world  war  that  is  just  ended. 


I04     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

In  the  old  Roman  Republic  experience  showed 
that  in  times  of  great  public  danger  it  was  necessary 
to  appoint  a  dictator  who  should  have  far  more 
absolute  authority  so  long  as  the  danger  lasted  than 
any  officer  had  in  time  of  peace.  The  American 
Constitution  has  made  provision  for  such  an  emer- 
gency (Art.  II,  Sec.  2)  :  "  The  President  shall  be 
Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and  Navy  of  the 
United  States,  and  of  the  militia  of  the  several 
States  when  called  into  the  actual  service  of  the 
United  States."  This  gives  to  him,  as  the  courts 
have  held,  absolute  power  to  carry  on  war,  which 
however,  can  only  be  declared  by  the  Congress. 
(Art.  I,  Sec.  8.) 

During  the  period  of  hostilities  many  individual 
rights,  which  in  time  of  peace  are  inviolable,  must 
yield  to  the  requirements  of  the  situation  in  which 
the  declaration  of  war  has  placed  the  country.  But 
after  every  war  in  which  the  United  States  has 
engaged,  the  almost  absolute  power  which  has  thus 
been  conferred  upon  the  President  has  ceased  with 
the  occasion  that  gave  it  birth.  The  rights  of  the 
individual  have  resumed  their  rightful  position  and 
their  sacredness,  and  the  country  has  gone  on  and 
prospered  on  the  American  road,  the  main  lines  of 
which  have  been  described. 

Let  no  one  think  from  what  has  been  said  that 
we  maintain  that  the  American  people  have  no 
faults.  Their  very  prosperity,  which  has  been  de- 
scribed, has  been  a  temptation.  The  selfishness, 
greed,  and  luxury  of  some  has  led  to  lawlessness 
in  others.    We  have  often  failed  to  support  prop- 


SOCIALISM  105 

eriy  the  unselfish  and  devoted  men  and  women  who 
have  tried  to  make  the  glad  tidings  known  to  every 
human  creature. 

The  war  has  taught  us  many  lessons — a 
bitter  experience,  which  will  in  the  end  be  salutary. 
If  we  are  true  to  the  fundamental  principles  of  right 
and  justice,  which  form  the  foundation  of  Ameri- 
can Democracy,  we  shall  emerge  from  the  storm 
and  tempest  of  war  a  regenerated  people,  realizing 
that  the  real  interest  of  each  class  of  the  community 
is  identical  with  that  of  all  the  rest,  and  that  it  is  by 
the  faithful  discharge  of  the  duty  that  each  owes 
to  the  other,  and  by  this  alone,  that  we  can  per- 
manently prosper. 

And  above  all  things  Christian  men  should  teach 
that  the  recent  iVterance  of  a  very  successful  manu- 
facturer (Henry  Ford)  is  untrue.  "Make  him 
comfortable  in  a  physical  way  and  give  him  a  chance 
to  show  that  he  can  produce  anything,  and  then  he 
will  get  in  shape,  spiritually,  and  will  be  normal, 
useful,  and  thoroughly  moral." 

To  the  contrary  of  this,  Moses  taught — "  Man 
cannot  live  by  bread  only,  but  by  every  word  that 
proceedeth  out  of  the  mouth  of  the  Lord  doth  man 
live."  '' 

And  Christ  said  to  the  woman  of  Samaria: 
"  Whosoever  drinketh  of  this  water  shall  thirst 
again.  But  whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that 
1  shall  give  him  shall  never  thirst,  but  the  water 
that  I  shall  give  him  shall  be  in  him  a  well  of 
water,  springing  up  into  everlasting  life."  ^^ 
20  Deut.  8:3.  21  John  4 :  13,  14. 


io6     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

And  St.  John  represents  Christ,  "  the  faithful  and 
true  witness,"  saying  to  the  Church  in  one  of  the 
rich  cities  of  Asia  Minor:  ''  Because  thou  sayest,  I 
am  rich,  and  increased  with  goods,  and  have  need 
of  nothing;  and  knowest  not  that  thou  art  wretched, 
and  miserable,  and  poor,  and  blind,  and  naked."  ^^ 

It  is  possible  that  the  accusation  of  '*  other  world- 
liness  "  was  justly  brought  against  our  fathers.  But 
that  does  not  justify  us  in  going  to  the  other  ex- 
treme and  worshipping  physical  ease  and  comfort. 
These  are  good,  but  not  the  chief  good.  It  is  not 
only  the  sacred  books  of  the  Bible,  but  the  prophets 
of  all  ages  that  teach  us  this.  Confucius  and 
Buddha,  Plato  and  Seneca,  St.  Augustine  and 
Phillips  Brooks,  alike  agree  in  this  eternal  truth. 

To  the  man  who  is  discontented  with  his  posi- 
tion and  desires  to  improve  it,  not  by  faithful  devo- 
tion to  duty,  but  by  grasping  that  which  another  has 
acquired  and  depriving  his  brethren  of  means  of 
usefulness  or  comfort  for  which  they  have  laboured, 
we  answer  with  Carlyle  :  ^^ 

"  The  Situation  that  has  not  its  Duty,  its  Ideal,  was 
never  yet  occupied  by  man.  Yes  here,  in  this  poor, 
miserable,  hampered,  despicable  Actual,  wherein  thou 
even  now  standest,  here  or  nowhere  is  thy  Ideal :  work 
it  out  therefrom ;  and  working,  believe,  live,  be  free. 
Fool !  the  Ideal  is  in  thyself,  the  impediment  too  is  in 
thyself :  thy  Condition  is  but  the  stuff  thou  art  to 
shape  that  same  Ideal  out  of :  what  matters  whether 
such  stuff  be  of  this  sort  or  that,  so  the  Form  thou 

22  Rev.  3: 17. 

23 "Sartor  Resartus,"  Bk.  II,  Ch.  X. 


SOCIALISM  i(yj 

give  it  be  heroic,  be  poetic?  O  thou  that  pinest  in 
the  imprisonment  of  the  Actual,  and  criest  bitterly  to 
the  gods  for  a  kingdom  wherein  to  rule  and  create, 
know  this  of  a  truth :  the  thing  thou  seekest  is  already 
with  thee,  '  here  or  nowhere,'  couldst  thou  only  see ! " 

We  do  not  maintain  that  intelligent  efforts  to  im- 
prove physical  conditions  are  not  important.  They 
are.  But  to  put  them  first,  defeats  the  desired  end. 
The  most  comfortable  people  are  not  as  a  rule  the 
noblest,  the  best  or  the  most  useful.  Love  of  God 
and  love  of  man  should  come  first.  Where  they 
dwell,  all  that  is  needful  will  be  added. 

"  Seek  ye  first  the  kingdom  of  God,  and  his 
righteousness,  and  all  these  things  shall  be  added 
unto  you."  " 

23  Matt.  6 :  33 ;  Luke  I2 :  31. 


VIII 
SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS 

THE  desire  for  human  brotherhood  which  has 
often  inspired  dreams  of  socialistic  revolu- 
tion has  found  more  rational  expression  in 
the  work  of  the  Social  Settlements.  This  has  justly 
been  called  "  applied  Christianity." 

The  need  which  the  Settlement  is  designed  to 
supply  is,  in  brief,  the  want  of  sympathy  and  mutual 
understanding  between  persons  occupying  different 
social  positions  and  possessing  different  degrees  of 
education.  The  Settlement  aims  to  bring  such  per- 
sons into  friendly  relations.  In  this  country  the 
Settlement  has  the  additional  function  of  bringing 
together  into  mutual  understanding  persons  of  dif- 
ferent religion  and  race. 

In  a  small  town,  this  office  is  performed  by  other 
instrumentalities.  Until  recently,  our  great  cities 
have  been  treated  like  exaggerated  small  towns. 
We  have  only  recently  come  to  realize  how  radi- 
cally social  conditions  have  changed,  and  how  im- 
possible it  is  to  bring  together  on  terms  of  sym- 
pathy and  friendship  the  different  classes  of  society, 
without  some  such  medium  as  that  of  the  Social 
Settlement. 

In  a  small  town  all  are  neighbours.  All  know 
io8 


SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  109 

more  or  less,  and  generally  more  rather  than  less, 
of  each  other's  position,  condition,  and  require- 
ments. The  clergyman,  the  lawyer,  the  doctor,  all 
bring  to  bear  upon  the  little  community  a  certain 
amount  of  literary  education  and  professional  train- 
ing. Some  inequality  of  social  conditions  always 
exists.  But  this  inequality  is  as  nothing  compared 
with  those  enormous  differences  in  wealth  which 
separate  an  Armour  or  an  Astor  from  the  day 
labourer.  The  very  fact  that  in  the  small  town  the 
dwellings  of  all  the  inhabitants  are  near  one  an- 
other, that  every  man  passes  his  neighbours'  houses 
as  he  goes  to  and  fro  in  his  daily  occupation,  gives 
to  each  a  sense  of  relationship,  and  a  certain  amount 
of  knowledge  concerning  his  neighbours,  that  is  in 
itself  humanizing.  It  may  not  be  profound,  but  it 
forms  at  least  a  foundation  for  the  establishment  of 
a  closer  and  more  intimate  acquaintance  as  occasion 
may  arise.  In  our  great  cities,  unfortunately,  none 
of  these  means  of  mutual  acquaintance  exist. 

The  clergyman  ministers  to  a  parish  which  is 
ordinarily  made  up  on  the  one  side  of  well-to-do 
people,  and  on  the  other  side  of  those  who  are  very 
poor,  and  from  various  causes  have  come  to  be 
more  or  less  dependent  upon  benevolence  for  their 
support. 

The  ph3'siclan  has  his  own  set  of  patients,  and 
while  he  may  sometimes  give  advice  freely  to  the 
very  poor,  yet  it  more  often  happens  that  their 
wants  are  provided  for  by  the  public  dispensary  and 
the  public  hospital. 

The  lawyer  has  his  own  clientage  and  the  require- 


no     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

ments  of  his  business  are  such  that  in  the  nature  of 
the  case  he  will  rarely  be  brought  into  contact  with 
people  of  little  means  who  have  no  occasion  to  seek 
advice  about  property,  and  are  rarely  engaged  in 
litigation.  He  may  occasionally  meet  them  as  wit- 
nesses. He  may  sometimes  encounter  them  as 
jurors.  But  when  the  jury  has  given  in  its  verdict, 
and  the  witnesses  are  dismissed  from  the  Court,  he 
is  likely  never  to  meet  or  recognize  any  of  them 
again. 

These  elements  of  separation  are  the  necessary 
outgrowth  of  great  diversities  in  property  and  social 
condition.  But  other  causes  combine  to  increase 
their  force.  One  of  the  most  obvious  of  these  is 
the  division  that  naturally  exists,  in  every  great 
city,  between  the  dwellings  of  the  very  rich  and 
those  of  people  in  moderate  circumstances.  Some- 
times it  is  accident,  sometimes  it  is  natural  advan- 
tage, which  causes  a  particular  quarter  of  the  city 
to  be  chosen  by  fashion  or  caprice  for  the  abodes 
of  the  wealthy.  In  point  of  fact,  in  all  large  cities 
some  such  quarter  is  situated;  the  land  becomes 
valuable  there;  costly  buildings  are  erected,  and 
people  of  moderate  means  cannot  afford  to  live 
there,  and  naturally  go  and  live  somewhere  else. 

The  political  traditions  of  our  country  tend  to 
accentuate  these  conditions.  From  a  very  early 
period  in  our  history  it  has  been  customary,  and  is 
sometimes  required  by  law,  that  a  delegate  to  any 
political  or  public  body  should  reside  in  the  locality 
from  which  he  is  elected.  The  primary  political 
units  are  generally  of  limited  area,  and  the  great 


SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  iii 

majority  of  those  residing  in  one  have  very  little 
political  communication  with  those  residing  in  the 
other. 

We  naturally  look  to  religious  bodies  for  teaching 
a  more  brotherly  spirit.  But  unfortunately 
churches  are  naturally  built  in  a  neighbourhood 
where  a  majority  of  those  who  attend  them  reside, 
and  this  location  is  in  large  cities  often  remote  from 
the  abodes  of  the  mechanic  and  artisan. 

There  was  a  time  in  our  country  when  the  public 
school  was  an  effective  means  of  bringing  together 
the  children  of  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men. 
This  has  now  largely  ceased  to  be  the  case,  for 
several  reasons:  In  the  first  place,  most  wealthy 
people  have  ceased  to  send  their  children  to  public 
schools;  and  in  the  second  place,  there  is  a  certain 
aristocracy  even  among  these  schools.  Those  that 
are  built  in  locaHties  where  wealthier  citizens  reside 
are  naturally  attended  more  by  the  children  of  those 
residing  in  the  neighbourhood.  A  person  visiting, 
for  example,  the  public  schools  of  New  York,  and 
going  into  one  in  the  district  between  Broadway 
and  Fifth  Avenue,  between  Thirty-fourth  Street 
and  Central  Park,  and  then  entering  a  school  in  the 
seventh  or  tenth  wards,  might  think  he  was  in  an- 
other city,  so  marked  would  be  the  difference  be- 
tween the  children  he  would  see  gathered  together 
in  the  classes.^ 

Thus  we  have  enumerated  various  means  of  knit- 


1  In  justice  to  New  York  it  should  be  said  that  the  City 
College  for  men,  and  Hunter  College  for  women,  both  main- 
tained at  public  expense,  and  open  not  only  to  the  best  pupils 


112     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

I 
ting  the  different  members  of  the  body  politic  to- 
gether into  one  friendly  family,  which  formerly 
exercised  most  beneficial  influence,  and  we  find  that 
the  unifying  force  of  each  of  them  has  greatly 
diminished. 

There  is  one  other  consideration  to  which,  in  this 
connection,  we  desire  to  call  attention,  the  import- 
ance of  which  cannot  be  overestimated.  We  refer 
to  the  growth  of  trades-unions.  It  is  not  our  inten- 
tion to  condemn  these  organizations.  In  many  in- 
stances they  subserve  a  most  useful  purpose.  But 
it  cannot  be  denied  that  one  of  their  tendencies  is  to 
keep  employer  and  employee  at  arm's  length  from 
each  other.  Most  of  the  business  between  them,  in- 
stead of  being  conducted  at  first  hand,  as  it  formerly 
was  in  this  country,  is  now  conducted  by  delegates 
from  one  organization  who  carry  terms  to  the  em- 
ployer, and  negotiate  agreements  WMth  him,  which 
are  to  be  performed,  not  by  the  delegates  themselves, 
but  by  those  whom  they  represent. 

Thirty  years  ago,  Abram  S.  Hewitt  said,  that 
when,  about  1850,  he  became  a  member  of  the  firm 
of  Cooper,  Hewitt  &  Co.,  he  knew  every  workman 
in  their  employ,  and  that  at  the  time  he  spoke  he 
did  not  know  one.  It  is  impossible,  in  the  nature  of 
the  case,  that  the  relations  between  the  employer  and 
his  work  people  should  not  have  been,  under  these 
earlier  conditions,  more  friendly  than  they  now  are. 
Nothing  takes  the  place  of  that  kindly  spirit  which 

in  the  public  high  schools,  but  to  those  trained  elsewhere, 
constitute  unifying  influences  of  great  value.  In  these  two 
institutions  New  York  is  in  advance  of  any  other  city. 


SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  113 

grows  up  between  man  and  man  from  mutual  ac- 
quaintance and  the  consciousness  of  mutual  help- 
fulness. 

The  difficulties  which  have  been  thus  far  sug- 
gested are  almost  as  serious  in  England  as  in  this 
country.  It  is  true  that  in  England  the  existence 
of  endowed  churches  often  keeps  up  active  religious 
work  in  a  very  poor  neighbourhood,  which  in  this 
country  could  not  maintain  any  sort  of  religious 
organization.  In  that  respect  they  have  the  advan- 
tage of  us. 

In  another  respect,  there  is  decided  advantage  in 
the  conditions  of  English  life  as  compared  with 
those  of  this  country.  The  population  of  England 
is  far  more  homogeneous  than  that  of  the  United 
States.  Not  more  than  3  per  cent,  of  the  population 
of  London  is  of  foreign  birth,  whereas  in  19 10, 
40.4  per  cent,  of  the  population  of  New  York,  and 
36  per  cent,  of  that  of  Chicago  was  of  foreign 
birth.^  Not  only  so,  but  they  come  to  us  from 
many  widely  differing  nationalities.  In  New  York, 
beside  the  preponderating  Irish  and  German  ele- 
ments, there  are  large  colonies  of  Italians,  Scandi- 
navians, Russians,  Poles,  Bohemians,  Hungarians, 
Chinese,  and  even  Armenians.  The  diversity  in 
Chicago  is  as  great.  These  people  differ  from  the 
American  stock  in  religion,  in  traditions,  both  politi- 
cal and  social,  and  in  language.  Their  standpoint, 
in  a  word,  is  widely  different   from  that  of  the 

2 "  International  Encyclopaedia,"  Vol.  XIV,  p.  333 ;  Vol. 
XVII,  p.  93;  Vol.  V,  p.  172.  Of  the  native  born  in  Chicago, 
54  per  cent,  were  of  foreign  parentage. 


114     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

Anglo-Saxon  American.  People  often  complain  of 
defects  in  our  municipal  governments.  Doubtless 
they  are  serious.  But  when  we  consider  the  enor- 
mous difficulties  that  beset  the  municipal  govern- 
ment of  New  York  and  Chicago  by  popular  suf- 
frage, the  wonder  is,  not  that  they  are  so  badly 
governed,  but  that  they  are  so  well  governed.  They 
offer  the  best  possible  proof  of  the  educational  value 
of  free  government. 

We  are  persuaded  that  nothing  but  popular  suf- 
frage, and  the  responsibilities  that  it  brings  with 
it,  could  possibly  have  welded  together  into  any  sort 
of  cohesion  the  incongruous  masses  from  all  parts 
of  the  world  that  compose  the  population  of  the 
largest  cities  of  the  United  States.  Our  political 
system  has  done,  and  is  doing,  a  great  deal  to  unite 
this  fragmentary  and  disorganized  population. 

But  while  it  is  true  that  political  influences  are 
in  themselves  a  means  of  unity,  yet  we  must  never 
forget  that  political  power  implies  a  certain  degree 
of  intelligence  in  the  voters,  and  still  more  a  com- 
munity of  interest  between  the  different  members 
of  society,  which  those  voters  are  in  danger  of  for- 
getting. 

People  of  education  in  our  great  cities  too  often 
take  refuge  in  indiscriminate  condemnation  of  the 
faults  and  insufficiencies  of  the  government  which 
is  the  product  of  our  voters,  and  which  they  in  a 
real  sense  create.  That  is  to  say,  our  system  of 
suffrage  gives  to  the  majority  of  voters  the  power 
to  have  whatever  government  in  a  city  they  prefer. 
If  the  majority  has  any  decided  preference,  it  will 


SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  115 

have  its  own  way,  and  therefore  it  is,  as  all  agree, 
that  the  voter  must  be  educated. 

But  this  proposition  brings  us  back  to  the  point 
from  which  we  started.  All  the  elements  of  dis- 
union in  our  social  fabric  to  which  we  have  re- 
ferred make  it  exceedingly  difficult  to  bring  the  in- 
fluence of  educated  and  intelligent  men,  imbued 
with  the  traditions  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race,  to  bear 
upon  the  mass  of  the  people.  Their  political  organi- 
zations are  led  and  officered  by  men  who  reside  in 
their  districts,  and  who,  by  residing  there,  have 
come  to  understand  the  temper  of  their  constituents, 
and  to  learn  how  to  influence  them. 

What  political  tradition  has  done,  the  love  of 
gain  has  also  done.  The  district  leader  lives  in  his 
district,  becomes  acquainted  with  the  voters  in  it, 
and  seeks  to  help  them  in  a  thousand  different  ways, 
in  order  to  obtain  their  support  during  the  year, 
and  especially  on  election  day.  The  man  who  wants 
to  make  money  out  of  the  passion  for  drink,  or  the 
passion  for  gambling,  opens  a  corner  saloon  or 
policy  shop  in  the  district,  and  makes  his  place  at- 
tractive, in  order  to  draw  within  its  grasp  as  many 
as  possible  of  the  neighbours.  Go  into  the  tenement- 
house  district  of  any  of  our  great  cities.  You  will 
find  there  innumerable  saloons  and  many  policy 
shops.  You  will  find  very  few  churches,  hardly  any 
libraries,  no  picture  galleries,  rarely  a  lecture  room. 
In  short,  there  may  be  a  population  of  250,000 
people  such  as  you  will  find  in  the  city  of  New  York 
between  Third  Avenue  and  the  East  River,  and  east 
of  the  Central  Park,  or  as  you  will  find  in  some 


ii6     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

districts  of  Chicago,  in  which  there  are  fewer  in- 
fluences for  civiHzation,  or  for  religious  training, 
than  would  be  found  in  the  average  small  city  of 
25,000  people.  Yet  this  population  sends  its  mem- 
bers to  the  State  Legislature,  elects  its  members  of 
Congress,  has  its  influence  in  every  branch  of  our 
body  politic. 

The  wealthy  people  who  live  on  the  east  side  of 
the  New  York  Central  Park  have  hardly  any  social 
relations  with  their  neighbours  who  live  a  thousand 
feet  to  the  east  of  them,  and  most  of  them  might  as 
well  be  separated  by  a  continent,  so  far  as  the  exist- 
ence of  friendly  relationship  is  concerned  between 
themselves  and  those  who  are  near  to  them.  The 
same  thing  is  true  in  other  large  cities. 

The  Social  Settlement  undertakes  to  meet  these 
difficulties.  It  says  that  as  Christians,  as  American 
citizens,  we  ought  to  recognize  that  people  of  dif- 
ferent race,  education,  and  social  condition  from 
ourselves  are  yet  our  neighbours,  and  ought  to  be 
our  friends.  That  as  the  law  recognizes  no  distinc- 
tion of  rank  between  us,  so  our  heart  and  judg- 
ment should  admit  that  in  order  to  make  a  pros- 
perous community  under  such  a  form  of  govern- 
ment as  ours,  it  is  absolutely  essential  that  these 
middle  walls  of  partition  should  be  taken  down. 
The  expression  of  the  great  apostle  springs  natu- 
rally to  the  lips.  We  feel  that  in  such  a  country  as 
ours,  there  should  be  "  neither  Greek  nor  Jew, 
neither  barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  nor  free";  that 
the  human  nature  which  we  see  in  our  fellow-citi- 
zens should  form  a  stronger  bond  of  union  than  any 


SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  117 

of    the    adventitious    circumstances    which    divide 
us. 

The  Settlement  recognizes  that  in  order  to  bring 
about  such  a  friendly  relation,  it  is  absolutely  essen- 
tial that  there  should  be  mutual  acquaintance.  The 
Settlement  which  we  look  forward  to,  is  a  home 
where  twenty  or  thirty  men  or  women  shall  reside. 
It  is  a  home  surrounded  by  a  library,  a  lecture 
room,  a  picture  gallery,  provided  with  teachers, 
club  rooms,  gymnasia,  music,  every  instrumentality, 
in  short,  which  tends  to  humanize,  to  civilize,  to 
give  innocent  pleasure  and  to  unite,  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  such  pleasure,  men  differing  in  race,  in 
education,  in  social  condition,  but  agreeing  in  the 
one  essential  point,  that  each  has  a  human  soul,  and 
that  each  can  be,  and  ought  to  be,  helpful  to  his 
neighbour.  When  we  have  such  a  living  organism 
as  that  which  we  have  thus  briefly  outlined,  we  shall 
expect  it  to  be  the  centre  of  a  system  of  clubs, 
which  will  enter  into  every  natural  and  legitimate 
activity  of  the  neighbourhood.  It  will,  for  example, 
interest  itself  in  the  public  schools.  It  will  seek 
to  bring  together,  in  friendly  interest,  the  teachers 
of  those  schools.  It  will  seek  to  make  its  libraries 
and  all  its  means  of  social  improvement  available 
to  supplement  the  education  given  in  those  schools 
and  to  help  the  teachers  and  the  scholars  alike.  It 
will  interest  itself  in  political  improvement  in  the 
neighbourhood ;  and  while  not  entering  into  any  field 
of  national  politics,  or  discriminating  on  that  ac- 
count between  any  of  its  members,  yet  it  will  en- 
deavour to  unite  them  in  some  organized  effort  to 


ii8     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

make  municipal  government  more  efficient  and  intel- 
ligent, to  improve  the  sanitary  condition  of  the 
buildings  the  people  live  in,  and  to  give  them  streets 
cleaner,  better  paved,  and  better  lighted.  In  Eng- 
land, you  find  residents  of  Oxford  House  and  Toyn- 
bee  Hall  active  in  municipal  councils  and  school 
boards,  and  bringing  to  their  deliberations  most  use- 
ful experience.  We  may  reasonably  hope  to  do  the 
same  thing  in  America.  Not  only  so,  but  we  may 
expect  that  our  residents  will  go  into  the  trades- 
unions,  and  endeavour  to  make  the  members  of  those 
unions  better  acquainted  with  their  employers;  so 
that  each  may  come  to  understand  the  intrinsic  con- 
ditions which  produce  success  or  failure  in  business, 
and  that  each  may  deal  with  the  other,  not  in  the 
heat  of  passion  or  the  blindness  of  prejudice,  but  in 
the  clear  and  calm  light  of  mutual  understanding 
and  mutual  friendship. 

The  members  of  the  Settlement  will  take  part  in 
the  committee  work  of  charity  organization  socie- 
ties, fresh  air  funds,  and  summer  homes.  They 
will  endeavour  to  make  all  those  who  come  in  any 
way  within  the  sphere  of  their  influence  acquainted 
with  whatever  means  there  may  be  existing  for 
bettering  their  condition. 

In  short,  the  object  of  the  Setdement  is  not  to 
displace  any  existing  means  of  social  improvement. 
On  the  contrary,  its  aim  and  purpose  is  to  utilize 
them  all,  to  study  them  all,  to  give  to  them  all  the 
benefit  of  the  experience  acquired  within  the  Settle- 
ment; and  thus  to  give  more  unity  to  their  activity, 
and  combine  their  forces  more  effectively. 


SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  119 

The  method  which  we  advocate  is  in  truth  the 
most  scientific  of  methods.  Scientific  men  have 
come  to  recognize  that  all  improvement  springs 
from  the  study  of  facts;  that  until  we  master  these 
and  understand  their  mutual  relations  and  de- 
pendence, we  never  can  make  substantial  progress. 
The  true  reason  why  more  progress  has  not  been 
made  in  the  growth  of  human  society  is  because 
those  who  have  had  the  power  to  govern  have 
understood  so  little  of  the  needs,  the  temper,  the 
desires  of  the  governed. 

How  many  well  meant,  but  disastrous,  social  ex- 
periments might  have  been  avoided,  had  the  good 
people  who  undertook  them  taken  the  pains  intelli- 
gently to  study  what  those  whom  they  sought  to 
benefit  actually  required.  The  men  and  women  who 
go  into  residence  in  a  Settlement  go  there  to  learn 
as  well  as  to  teach.  They  go  in  part,  at  least,  to 
qualify  themselves  to  act  wisely  in  dealing  with  the 
social  problems  of  the  day,  which  cry  aloud  for  solu- 
tion, and  for  the  treatment  of  which  there  are,  alas, 
quacks  as  well  as  skilled  physicians. 

If  the  Settlement  idea  once  becomes  thoroughly 
implanted  in  the  American  conscience;  if  our 
w^ealthy  people  come  to  understand  that  they  can  do 
no  better  service  to  the  cause  of  religion,  the  cause 
of  morality,  the  cause  of  social  improvement,  and 
especially  to  the  improvement  of  municipal  govern- 
ment, than  by  giving  cordial  and  friendly  support  to 
existing  Settlements,  by  establishing  new  ones,  by 
sending  their  sons  and  their  daughters  to  live  in 
them,  and  in  this  way  to  become  students  in  the 


I20     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

great  social  university  from  which  it  is  more  im- 
portant to  graduate  than  from  Harvard  or  Yale, 
Princeton,  Columbia  or  Chicago;  then  indeed  may 
we  hope  in  another  generation  to  see  more  intelli- 
gent and  efficient  municipal  government.  We  shall 
see  cities  in  every  part  of  which  it  may  be  healthful 
and  pleasant  to  live.  We  shall  have  better  schools 
and  larger  and  more  liberal  colleges.  We  shall  see 
churches  more  thoroughly  inspired  with  the  spirit 
of  their  Founder.  We  shall,  in  short,  behold  a 
nation  developing  upon  the  lines  which  the  author 
of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  embodied  in 
that  immortal  instrument,  which  set  the  whole 
fabric  of  American  institutions  upon  the  founda- 
tion of  equality,  so  far  as  the  law  can  give  it,  in 
all  that  tends  to  make  life  really  happy,  in  all  that 
tends  to  secure  a  reasonable  and  self -restrained  lib- 
erty, in  all  that  tends  to  give  to  the  poorest  and 
weakest  the  opportunity  for  that  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness which  is  dear  to  the  heart  of  every  man. 

Those  who  have  not  studied  what  Social  Settle- 
ments have  already  accomplished,  nor  considered 
the  possibilities  of  their  future,  may  speak  of  these 
hopes  as  visionary.  To  all  their  critics,  Settlement 
workers  can  only  say:  Come  and  see  what  we  are 
doing;  and  if  you  then  approve,  give  us  sympathy 
and  support.  Both  are  needed  in  far  larger  measure 
than  they  have  yet  been  given. 

Toynbee  Hall  in  London  was  the  first  college 
Settlement  founded  in  East  London  in  1884. 
Oxford  House  followed  it.  In  New  York,  the 
Neighbourhood  Guild,  since  developed  into  the  Uni- 


SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  121 

versity  Settlement,  the  College  Settlement  (for 
women  residents)  and  the  East  Side  House  were 
established  in  1890  and  1891.  Hull  House  in  Chi- 
cago was  founded  about  the  same  time.  Their 
example  has  been  followed  both  in  England  and 
America.  There  are  about  fifty  Settlements  in  New 
York  City  alone. 

They  differ  somewhat  in  their  methods.  They  are 
more  unlike  in  the  circumstances  which  led  to  their 
foundation.  But  all  are  alike  in  this.  Each  is  a 
home  where  those  can  reside  who  love  their  fellow- 
men  and  are  enough  in  earnest  to  make  some  sacri- 
fices in  order  to  learn  what  their  fellows  need, 
what  they  think,  and  how  they  can  best  be  helped. 
Each  Settlement  is  to  some  extent  a  social  univer- 
sity for  the  study  of  man^ — his  feelings,  his  ambi- 
tions, his  difficulties,  his  discouragements. 

Arnold  Toynbee,  a  university  man,  gave  the  im- 
pulse which  led  to  the  foundation  of  the  first  of 
these  Settlements.  He  was  shocked  at  the  depth 
and  width  of  the  gulf  between  different  classes  of 
society,  at  the  ignorance  of  the  real  needs  of  the 
wage  earner  that  spoils  so  many  well  meant  efforts. 
He  said :  "  H  I  am  to  love  my  neighbour  as  myself, 
I  must  make  him  indeed  my  neighbour.  I  must  go 
and  live  where  he  lives,  and  learn  by  experience 
what  manner  of  man  he  is."  From  this  beginning, 
university  men  and  women  have  been  the  most 
active  in  founding  Settlements  and  in  conducting 
Settlement  work.  The  true  university  spirit  which 
recognizes  gladly  the  distinction  of  real  talents  and 
acquirements,  but   is  somewhat  impatient  of  the 


122     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

artificial  distinctions  of  wealth  and  station,  is  at  the 
heart  of  Settlement  work.  But  more  than  this, 
love  for  the  truth,  desire  to  know  it  just  as  it 
really  is,  the  modest,  painstaking  spirit  of  research 
and  investigation — this  also  is  most  helpful. 

One  man  puts  this  spirit  into  theology,  another 
into  the  law,  another  into  medicine,  another  still 
into  history  or  science.  But  every  man  ought  to 
know  men.  Every  citizen  of  the  Republic  ought  to 
realize  the  responsibility  of  his  citizenship,  and 
every  one  who  has  learned  something  of  the  Father- 
hood of  God,  must  feel  some  stirrings  of  love  for 
the  other  children  of  the  All-Father,  who  are  there- 
fore his  own  brethren.  This  last  is  not  an  easy 
lesson.  But  no  one  reaches  to  the  full  dignity  and 
honour  of  manhood  who  has  not  learned  it. 

Therefore  Settlement  work  appeals  to  every 
man  and  every  woman.  Each  resident  has  full 
scope  for  the  play  of  his  own  individuality.  He  will 
find  among  his  neighbours  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  men.  He  makes  friends  among  them.  They 
come  after  a  while  to  exchange  confidences  and  be- 
come mutually  helpful.  To  use  the  words  of  Jane 
Addams,  who  did  such  admirable  work  when  she 
was  head  of  Hull  House: 

"  The  advantage  of  an  unsophisticated  neighbour- 
hood is  that  the  inhabitants  do  not  keep  their  ideas  as 
treasures ;  they  are  untouched  by  the  notion  of  ac- 
cumulating them,  as  one  does  knowledge  or  money, 
and  frankly  act  upon  those  they  have." 

Let  each  person  who  has  grown  up  amid  books 
and  pictures,  and  objects  of  beauty  and  interest, 


SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  123 

realize  what  it  means  for  the  majority  who,  in  great 
cities,  grow  up  without  any  of  these.  And  then  let 
him  imagine  what  it  means  to  help  intelligent, 
thoughtful  young  men  and  women  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  these,  and  of  all  that  they  imply.  That 
which  has  perhaps  become  indifferent  from  its  very 
commonness,  takes  on  new  life  and  beauty  when  you 
put  it  where  it  is  uncommon.  Nothing  in  life  can 
be  more  interesting  than  to  guide  and  stimulate  the 
growth  of  a  soul  that  has  developed  slowly  in  twi- 
light, and  comes  through  your  aid  and  that  of  your 
associates  to  the  light  of  day. 

The  conditions  of  the  domestic  life  in  a  Settle- 
ment are  not  unlike  those  of  a  college  student  away 
from  home.  Each  has  his  room,  and  his  books, 
and  there  is  the  common  table.  Each  continues  his 
own  work,  whatever  that  may  be.  The  distinctive 
Settlement  life  fills  up  the  hours  that  were  given  to 
the  diversions  which  do  indeed  lend  zest  to  the 
academic  career;  but  which  for  the  graduate  may 
well  give  place,  for  a  time  at  least,  to  something 
more  generous  and  unselfish.  The  resident  in  Riv- 
ington  Street  or  in  Seventy-sixth  Street,  or  in  any 
other  Settlement,  may  be  a  leader  there  in  athletics, 
or  in  a  class  in  politics,  or  social  science,  or  litera- 
ture, or  ethics,  or  religion.  Or,  without  taking  a 
class,  he  may  simply  devote  himself  to  getting  ac- 
quainted with  his  neighbours.  If  his  chosen  pro- 
fession is  the  law,  he  will  learn  at  first  hand,  and 
from  the  original  sources  something  of  the  temper 
and  peculiarities  of  the  jurymen  who  will  decide  his 
cases,  and  of  the  witnesses  whom  he  will  examine. 


124     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

If  he  is  aiming  to  be  a  physician,  he  will  acquire  in- 
valuable knowledge  of  the  temperament  and  idiosyn- 
crasies of  human  beings,  which  the  skilful  doctor 
needs  to  know  as  well  as  their  physical  nature,  or 
as  the  drug  that  may  cure  or  mitigate  the  maladies 
of  the  body.  If  he  is  going  into  the  ministry,  he 
will  find  out  more  of  the  workings  of  the  human 
heart,  and  the  way  to  move  it,  than  in  a  whole 
course  at  the  seminary.  If  he  has  political  ambi- 
tions, he  can  find  no  better  school  than  the  Settle- 
ment. The  power  of  the  political  boss  is  not  alto- 
gether evil.  Nor  is  it  entirely  based  upon  the  self- 
ish passions,  or  influenced  solely  by  selfish  motives. 
The  district  leader  knows  the  individuals  who  live 
in  his  district.  He  has  a  part  in  their  humble  joys 
and  sorrows  and  helps  them  to  carry  their  burdens. 
To  quote  again  from  Miss  Addams : 

"  What  headway  can  the  notion  of  civic  purity,  of 
honesty  of  administration,  make  against  this  big  mani- 
festation of  human  friendliness,  this  stalking  survival 
of  village  kindness  ?  " 

The  men  of  higher  purposes  and  nobler  aspira- 
tions must  do  the  like,  or  their  influence  can  never 
rival  his.  In  short,  the  resident  in  a  Settlement 
ought  to  share  in  the  political,  the  intellectual,  the 
religious  life  of  his  neighbourhood.  It  may,  and 
should,  become  to  him  like  a  little  village,  in  which 
he  would  know  everybody  and  everybody  would 
know  him.  The  knowledge  of  the  human  heart  is  a 
mighty  power.  And  here  in  the  Settlement  is  a  place 
where  a  man  must  be  dull  indeed  if  he  does  not 


SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  125 

learn  something  of  the  springs  that  move  the  hearts 
of  his  fellows. 

To  gain  this,  it  is  not  enough  to  go  in  residence 
for  a  month  or  so,  or  to  made  a  fad  of  the  thing. 
The  resident  must  take  it  seriously  and  must  enter 
on  the  unfamiliar  life  with  a  fixed  purpose  to  make 
the  most  of  it,  both  for  himself,  and  his  new  neigh- 
bours. 

Indeed  there  is  a  career  in  these  modern  organiza- 
tions, which  may  well  be  attractive  to  a  university 
graduate.  The  head  of  a  Settlement  is  a  power  for 
good.  His  influence  steadily  increases.  He  plays  a 
very  important  part  in  the  evolution  of  the  modern 
democracy.  What  that  has  in  store  for  us  in  the 
twentieth  century,  we  cannot  predict  with  certainty. 
But  we  know  that  improved  methods  of  production 
lessened  before  the  world  war  the  cost  of  the 
necessaries  of  life,  increased  wages,  and  shortened 
the  hours  of  labour.  During  the  war  and  after  its 
close  wages  still  continue  to  be  much  higher  than 
they  were  in  1914,  the  hours  of  labour  are  shorter, 
we  may  well  hope  that  the  cost  of  living  will  de- 
crease. How  will  the  workman  use  his  spare  hours, 
and  the  cash  that  remains,  after  providing  for  the 
subsistence  of  himself  and  his  family?  To  answer 
that  question  would  be  to  forecast  pretty  .accurately 
the  future  of  popular  government.  Those  men  and 
women  who  come  from  the  university,  with  ideas 
and  aspirations,  w^ith  faith  in  God  and  faith  in  man 
— these  will  discern  the  riddle  of  our  modern  civi- 
lization, with  its  startling  contradictions,  and  may 
help  to  unravel  it.    The  words  of  Lord  Beaconsfield 


126     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

are  just  as  applicable  to  the  university  men  and 
women  of  our  time,  as  they  were  in  his. 

"  We  live  in  an  age  when  to  be  young  and  to  be 
indiflFerent  can  be  no  longer  synonymous.  We  must 
prepare  for  the  coming  hour.  The  claims  of  the 
Future  are  represented  by  suffering  millions,  and  the 
Youth  of  a  Nation  are  the  Trustees  of  Posterity." 

There  are  many  who  look  upon  the  Settlements  as 
ephemeral.  But  these  critics  do  not  realize  what 
their  work  really  is.  It  is  said  that  they  do  what 
cities  ought  to  do.  But  no  public  official  can  give 
the  personal  sympathetic  touch,  which  is  an  essen- 
tial part  of  the  Settlement  work. 

No  doubt  sometimes  they  have  begun  what  cities 
ought  to  do.  In  such  cases,  that  particular  depart- 
ment may  wisely  be  consigned  to  the  public  authori- 
ties, who  have  more  money  and  can  do  the  work  on 
a  larger  scale. 

For  example,  when  the  East  Side  House  Settle- 
ment was  established  in  189 1,  on  the  shore  of  the 
East  River,  Seventy-sixth  Street,  New  York  City, 
it  gave  to  the  children  a  playground,  and  to  the 
public  generally  baths  and  a  library  and  reading 
room.  Situated  in  a  district  largely  settled  by 
Bohemians,  it  established  the  first  public  Bohemian 
library  in  New  York. 

These  beneficent  activities  are  now  conducted  by 
the  municipal  authorities.  John  Jay  Park  has  been 
laid  out  and  equipped  with  facilities  for  the  comfort 
and  enjoyment  of  the  neighbours.  A  large  public 
bath  house  has  been  provided  opposite  the  Settle- 


SOCIAL  SETTLEMENTS  127 

merit.  The  books  of  the  library  have  been  given  to 
a  Carnegie  library  which  the  city  now  maintains  in 
the  vicinity.  The  remaining  business  of  the  Settle- 
ment has  not  slackened  because  of  these  changes, 
but  on  the  contrary  has  continually  developed  and 
increased.  Similar  instances  might  be  narrated  of 
the  results  accomplished  by  other  Settlements.  The 
point  is  that  they  have  a  permanent  work  to  do,  and 
constitute  a  very  important  part  of  the  organization 
necessary  to  achieve  a  better  and  happier  world  in 
which,  to  use  Macaulay's  words : 

"  Then  none  was  for  a  party ; 
Then  all  were  for  the  State; 
Then  the  great  man  helped  the  poor. 
And  the  poor  man  loved  the  great." 


IX 


THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  AS  A  FACTOR 
IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS 

IN  considering  the  present,  it  is  always  wise, 
and  even  necessary,  to  look  upon  it  as  a  de- 
velopment from  the  past.  No  social  condition 
is  an  immediate  creation.  It  is  rooted  for  good  or 
for  evil  in  the  centuries  that  have  gone  before,  and 
therefore  we  must  call  attention  to  the  Church  from 
the  beginning  as  a  most  important  factor  in  social 
progress.  The  great  reformer  who  established  the 
'fundamental  principles  upon  w'hich  all  wise  and  per- 
manent reform  must  rest,  was  also  the  founder  of 
the  Christian  Church,  and  it  is  to  His  example  that 
we  must  look  if  we  are  to  make  our  reforms  thor- 
ough or  lasting.  Any  one  who  reads  the  social 
history  of  the  Roman  Empire  and  compares  it  with 
the  social  conditions  of  today,  cannot  fail  to  be 
struck  by  the  incalculable  growth  in  humanity  that 
has  developed  wherever  the  truths  of  Christianity 
have  penetrated.  We  would  not  for  a  moment 
maintain  that  there  was  no  humanity  in  the  world 
before  Christ  was  born  at  Bethlehem.  Such  a  state- 
ment would  be  repugnant  to  our  belief  in  the  power 
and  love  of  God.  But  in  all  of  His  works  He  has 
been  pleased  to  proceed  by  gradual  stages,  and  it  is 

X28 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     129 

very  plain,  as  a  historical  fact,  that  disregard  of 
the  sufferings  and  privations  of  those  to  whom  a 
man  was  not  bound  by  some  very  special  tie,  either 
of  family  or  contract,  was  the  prevailing  condition 
of  the  world  two  thousand  years  ago.  The  en- 
thusiasm for  humanity  that  shows  itself  in  hospi- 
tals, in  asylums,  in  education,  in  the  work  of  Social 
Settlements,  and  in  the  thousand  healthful  activities 
in  which  what  we  call  organized  Christianity  is 
engaged,  have  no  parallel  in  the  ages  before  the 
Christian  era.  Individuals  felt  and  expressed  the 
spirit.  It  was  a  Roman  who  said,  "  I  am  a  man. 
Nothing  that  pertains  to  man  is  alien  to  me."  But 
Cicero  and  Seneca  and  Terence  were  not  able  to  im- 
press this  spirit  upon  society  as  a  whole. 

Now  it  must  be  admitted  that  at  present  there  are 
many  who  are  totally  regardless  of  their  social 
duties;  that  there  are  many  among  our  rich  people 
who  are  just  as  cruel  and  selfish  and  extravagant 
and  ostentatious  as  any  of  the  Roman  millionaires. 
Ferrero  has  shown  this  clearly  by  some  pungent 
comparisons  that  it  is  well  for  us  to  study  and  lay 
to  heart.  But  the  difference  is  here.  In  the  present 
day  there  is  not  merely  a  protest  from  a  few  philoso- 
phers against  this  selfishness  and  extravagance  and 
cruelty,  but  we  find  a  spirit  in  every  place  where  the 
gospel  is  preached,  w^arring  against  it,  and  striving 
to  put  a  nobler  and  more  humane  spirit  in  its  place.^ 
That  is  the  direct  fruit  of  the  teaching  of  Christ 

^We  may  say  even  of  Germany,  what  St.  John  said  of 
Sardis — "  Thou  hast  a  few  names  even  in  Sardis  which  have 
not  defiled  their  garments."     (Rev.  3:4.) 


130     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

and  of  His  gospels.  When  St.  Paul  declared  that 
God  had  "  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  men  for 
to  dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth  " ;  when  he  says 
again  that  Christ  had  come  "  to  break  down  the 
middle  wall  of  partition  "  between  the  Jew  and  Gen- 
tile; that  henceforth  Gentiles  were  "no  more 
strangers  and  foreigners  but  fellow-citizens  with 
the  saints  and  of  the  household  of  God,"  he  de- 
clared principles  of  life  and  growth  that  have  been 
bearing  fruit  in  successive  generations.^  Slavery 
has  been  abolished ;  the  slave  trade  has  been  broken 
up;  provision  is  made  in  every  place,  more  or  less 
wisely  and  completely,  but  still  in  all  Christian 
countries,  for  the  education  of  children;  the  hours 
of  labour  for  them  and  for  women  are  becoming 
regulated;  provision  is  being  made  for  the  suitable 
care  of  the  veterans  and  invalids  of  labour  as  well 
as  those  of  war.  Cruelty  to  animals  is  condemned 
and  punished.  We  must  admit  that  armaments  and 
arms  have  increased  in  number  and  in  power.  The 
world  war,  just  ended,  was  on  a  scale  unprece- 
dented in  history.  But  in  every  really  civilized 
nation  the  wisest  and  best  are  promoting  a  League 
of  Nations  which  will  hinder,  and  if  possible,  pre- 
vent wars  in  the  future.  The  nations  did  in  1899, 
establish  an  international  court  of  arbitration. 
Many  of  the  controversies  which  centuries  ago 
would  have  been  settled  only  by  the  sword  have 
been  settled  by  judicial  decision  of  the  Hague 
tribunal  or  by  special  arbitral  tribunals.  In  all 
these  reforms  Christian  men  have  been  the  leaders. 
2  Acts  17:26. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     131 

It  was  the  shameless  violation  of  the  Convention  on 
this  subject  and  the  refusal  of  Germany  and  of 
Austria  to  submit  to  arbitration  which  brought  on 
the  present  war. 

Let  us  for  a  moment  look  back  over  the  story  of 
the  ages,  and  recall  the  extent  to  which  Christian 
men  have  been  factors  in  human  progress.  Chry- 
sostom  struggled  against  the  vices  of  his  age,  and 
showed  that  the  care  of  the  poor  and  sick  was  an 
essential  part  of  the  Christian  life.  Augustine,  in 
the  City  of  God,  held  up  to  us  the  ideal  of  the 
Christian  Commonw^ealth.  At  a  later  period, 
Fenelon  and  Luther  were  teachers  of  righteousness, 
and  leaders  in  the  cause  of  human  progress.  Las 
Casas  nobly  and  persistently  pleaded  for  the  inno- 
cent natives  of  America.  John  Woolman  was  one 
of  the  first  to  point  out  the  evils  of  slavery,  and  to 
teach  that  Christian  men  must  unite  for  its  gradual 
abolition.  John  Howard,  that  devout  and  earnest 
Christian,  was  the  leader  in  the  campaign  for 
prison  reform  that  has  made  such  wonderful  prog- 
ress in  the  last  hundred  and  fifty  years.  Of  that 
single-minded  and  devout  man,  Bentham  justly 
said : 

"  In  the  scale  of  moral  desert  the  labours  of  the 
leader  and  the  law-giver  are  as  far  below  his  as  earth 
is  below  Heaven. 

"  His  kingdom  was  a  better  world — he  died  a 
martyr  after  being  an  apostle.*' 

Not  to  speak  of  the  unceasing  labours  of  Wesley 
and  Whitfield,  not  only  for  the  propagation  of 


132     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

religious  truth,  but  for  the  betterment  of  social  con- 
ditions, we  must  never  forget  that  we  owe  to  Lord 
Shaftesbury,  more  than  to  any  other  man  in  our 
time,  the  inception  and  development  of  improve- 
ment in  the  conditions  of  the  working  people,  not 
only  in  England,  but  in  this  country,  and  that  he 
was  a  devout  and  earnest  member  of  the  Christian 
Church.  It  is  especially  important  now  to  remem- 
ber the  institution  for  the  training  of  deaconesses 
at  Kaiserswerth.  Let  us  also  recall  the  founding  of 
St.  Luke's  Hospital  in  New  York,  the  example  of 
which  as  a  Christian  hospital  has  been  followed  by 
many  through  the  world;  the  steadfast  devotion  to 
the  work  of  social  reform  exhibited  by  the  Bishop 
of  London,  with  whose  apostolic  words  and  works 
all  are  familiar.  The  founder  of  the  Social  Settle- 
ment, who  gave  his  life  at  East  London  for  the 
uplift  of  the  wretched,  Arnold  Toynbee,  was  a  loyal 
member  of  this  universal  Church.  We  find  these 
Settlements  now  in  every  great  city;  they  follow 
absolutely  the  example  of  the  founder  of  Christian- 
ity, of  whom  it  was  said  that  "  though  he  was  rich, 
yet  for  our  sakes  he  became  poor  that  we,  through 
his  poverty,  might  be  rich."  The  noble  and  con- 
secrated men  and  women  who  have  given  up  the 
luxuries  of  life  and  the  enjoyment  of  social  inter- 
course with  those  among  whom  they  were  educated 
to  go  into  poor  neighbourhoods  and  be  a  source  of 
light  and  leading  there  to  all  their  neighbours,  are 
factors  in  social  progress  of  the  greatest  value.  As 
Dr.  Devine,  himself  an  earnest  Christian,  said  in 
1910: 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     133 

"  The  religious  treatment  of  poverty  differs  from 
all  other  in  that  it  has  behind  it  spiritual  power,  the 
quickening  influence  of  a  passion  for  rescuing  a  human 
soul  from  destruction,  a  calm  faith  that  every  human 
effort  directed  toward  a  good  end  is  in  line  with 
the  moral  order  of  the  universe,  that  God  is  in  na- 
ture and  in  human  history,  and  that  we  are  His  in- 
struments— intelligent,  co-operating  instruments,  with 
great  advantage  to  ourselves  when  our  will  is  in  har- 
mony with  the  Divine  Will ;  instruments  none  the  less 
if  blind,  rebellious,  or  unreconciled.  The  religious 
treatment  of  poverty  lies  in  its  inspiration,  not  in  its 
mechanics.  The  religious  elem.ent  is  in  the  field  of 
motive,  desire,  purpose,  not  in  the  field  of  method, 
agency,  or  result. 

''  A  new  situation  has  arisen  in  the  Church  because 
of  the  growth  of  constructive  philanthropy  in  the  last 
century.  There  are  now  at  hand  a  vast  array  of  in- 
stitutions, societies,  committees,  foundations,  govern- 
mental bureaus  and  departments,  all  inspired  by  the 
idea  of  social  responsibility,  all  potentially  religious 
in  aim  and  spirit,  all  ready  and  eager  to  become  the 
instrument  of  religion  in  its  practical  mission  among 
the  sons  of  men.  The  one  indispensable  element  which 
these  secular  agencies  of  social  betterment  cannot 
supply  is  inspiration.  The  one  element  which  religion 
alone  can  supply  is  inspiration.  We  make  an  irre- 
trievable error  if  we  assume  that  these  secular  agen- 
cies will  supply  their  own  inspiration,  if  we  ignore  the 
necessity  for  the  direct  cultivation  and  enrichment  of 
the  life  of  the  spirit  which  is  in  these  movements  today 
because  of  the  historic  faith  of  yesterday  and  of  the 
ages  past.  If  we  have  not  our  own  religious  faith, 
rich,  abounding,  living,  fructifying  faith — the  secular 


134     A  LAWYER^S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

agencies  will  perish,  or  perhaps  become  the  instru- 
ments of  the  devil,  for  curiously  enough  faith  in 
the  evil  spirits  seems  to  come  easier;  and  in  some 
quarters  to  last  longer,  than  faith  in  the  power  of 
good. 

"  In  order  that  we  may  have  religious  treatment  of 
poverty,  therefore,  the  first  essential  of  all  is  that  we 
shall  have  religion — a  militant,  aggressive  religious 
faith,  with  its  deacons  and  prophets,  with  its  sacra- 
ments and  sanctions,  with  its  hopes  and  promises,  even 
with  its  commandments  and  terrors ;  a  historical  re- 
ligion with  its  festivals  and  fast  days,  its  holidays 
and  holy  days,  a  religion  which  makes  appeal  to  rea- 
son and  to  tradition,  which  commands  our  loyalty  and 
sanctifies  our  fellowship;  such  a  religion  as  Chris- 
tianity, purified  of  superstitions  and  enriched  by 
science,  alone  among  the  historic  faiths  offers  to  our 
American  people,  except  for  that  portion  of  our  popu- 
lation for  whom  the  religion  of  Israel  suffices,  and 
except  for  a  few  groups  of  immigrants  so  small  and 
fragmentary  as  to  be  a  negligible  factor." 

The  author  will  be  permitted  to  speak  from  his 
own  experience  of  fifty  years.  In  whatever  line 
of  work  he  has  been  engaged,  whether  the  reform 
of  the  Civil  Service,  and  the  rescuing  of  the  appoint- 
ing power  from  the  degrading  servitude  of  the 
spoils  system,  or  the  breaking  down  of  those  tariff 
barriers  which  short-sighted  men  have  set  up  to 
hinder  trade  between  nations,  or  the  reform  of 
municipal  governments,  and  the  giving  both  purity 
and  efficiency  to  their  administration,  the  men  who 
have  been  most  active,   most  zealous,   most  per- 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     135 

suasive,  and  most  wise,  have  been  Christian  men, 
inspired  by  the  spirit  of  Christ,  and  showing  this 
inspiration  in  their  lives  and  actions. 

In  the  cause  of  Civil  Service  reform  and  munici- 
pal reform,  for  example,  we  owe  much  to  two  prel- 
ates of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church,  Archbishops 
Ireland  and  Ryan,  and  to  two  Bishops  of  the  Epis- 
copal Church,  Henry  C.  Potter  and  Phillips  Brooks. 
It  seems  invidious  to  mention  names  among  laymen. 
We  would  fain,  however,  speak  of  four  useful  citi- 
zens who  were  taken  away  from  the  city  of  New 
York  within  the  space  of  two  years :  William  E. 
Dodge,  John  S.  Kennedy,  John  Crosby  Brown,  and 
D.  Willis  James.  They  were  all  consecrated  Chris- 
tians. They  were  all  rich  men,  but  no  breath  of  cen- 
sure, or  even  of  suspicion  ever  impaired  the  lustre 
of  the  methods  by  which  they  attained  wealth.  In 
life  and  in  death  alike,  they  used  this  power  for  the 
glory  of  God,  and  the  good  of  their  fellow-men.  In 
the  cause  of  Civic  Reform  they  gave  not  only 
money,  but  generous  unselfish  service.  They  gave 
it  gladly.  They  are  types  of  a  great  multitude 
whom  no  man  can  number.  Without  the  aid  of 
such,  the  salt  woul_d  be  out  of  the  system  of  govern- 
ment and  reform  would  die. 

Lecky  justly  said :  "  The  great  characteristic  of 
Christianity  and  the  proof  of  its  divinity  is  that  it 
has  been  the  main  source  of  the  moral  development 
of  Europe."  The  same  is  true  of  America.  The 
spirit  of  Christ  and  the  apostles  is  essential  to 
social  progress.  It  is  sane ;  it  is  temperate ;  it  cares 
much  less  for  the  correction  of  particular  abuses 


r^.6     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 


o 


y 


/ 


than  for  the  regeneration  of  the  evil  spirit  from 
w  hich  those  abuses  spring. 

The  most  serious  mistake  in  the  endeavours  of 
well-meaning  people  is  the  disposition  to  think  that 
legislation  of  itself  is  the  most  important  factor  in 
social  progress.  That  error  is  absolute.  There  can 
be  no  perfect  manners  without  Christian  souls. 

"  The  Christ  Himself  had  been  no  Law-giver 
Unless  He  had  given  His  life  too,  with  the  Law." 

All  the  legislation  in  the  world  will  be  futile  un- 
less there  be  in  the  hearts  of  men  the  spirit  of  love 
and  of  helpfulness,  which  is  the  essential  and  dis- 
tinctive spirit  of  Christianity. 

We  have  designedly  not  dealt  especially  with  the 
direct  work  of  Christian  organizations.  We  do  not 
undervalue  organized  Christianity.  It  is  a  force  of 
great  magnitude.  But  experience  and  history  alike 
teach  that  there  is  danger  in  relying  exclusively 
upon  organization.  It  was  to  a  church  founded  by 
St.  Paul  himself,  and  at  one  time  full  of  life  and 
rich  in  good  works,  that  St.  John  exclaimed.^ 

"  Because  thou  sayest ;  I  am  rich  and  increased  in 
goods  and  have  need  of  nothing,  and  knowest  not 
that  thou  art  wretched  and  miserable  and  poor,  and 
blind  and  naked." 

It  is  not  in  organization,  however  historic,  or  in 
symbols,  however  sacred,  that  we  must  trust,  but  in 
the  Christ ;  living  as  truly  now  as  when  He  walked 
by  the  Sea  of  Galilee,  proclaiming,  '*  The  harvest 
truly  is  great,  but  the  labourers  are  few." 
3  Rev.  3 :  17. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     137 

In  every  place  in  which  Christian  and  brave  souls 
are  striving  for  human  progress  He  calls  for  volun- 
teers to  fight  His  battles  against  the  powers  of  evil. 
The  fundamental  truth  of  Christianity  is,  that  the 
power  that  goes  with  education  and  wealth  is  a 
power  in  trust;  given  by  God  Himself,  and  that  the 
only  true  life,  the  only  free  life,  is  a  life  of  self- 
devoted  love,  blessing  as  it  does  both  him  that  gives 
and  him  that  receives.  And  never  has  there  been  a 
more  signal  instance  of  this  than  during  the  war 
which  in  1914  was  forced  upon  the  world  by  the 
selfish  greed  and  ambition  of  the  Prussian  military 
caste.  In  all  the  Allied  nations.  Christian  men  have 
given  without  stint;  money,  time,  energy,  life  itself, 
in  the  cause  of  righteousness  and  freedom.. 

It  is  often  said  that  workingmen  distrust  the 
Church.  No  doubt  they  often  do.  For  this  there 
are  several  reasons.  The  present  church  system  of 
America  is  mainly  the  outgrowth  of  that  which  oiir 
forefathers  established  in  the  colonies.  Their 
population  was  in  the  beginning  comparatively 
homogeneous.  Diversities  in  wealth  and  material 
condition  were  inconsiderable  compared  with  those 
which  now  exist.  Every  town  or  parish  had  a 
church,  and  all  the  people  in  the  town  came  to  a 
certain  degree  within  the  scope  of  the  work  of  the 
Church  and  were  recognized  as  having  some  connec- 
tion with  it.  This  system  was  well  adapted  to  the 
wants  of  the  time.  It  had  no  occasion  to  provide 
for  a  large  body  of  people  within  each  town,  who 
had  no  interest  in  the  work  of  the  Church  and  were 
indifferent  to  its  welfare.    As  population  extended 


138     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

westward  the  emigrants  took  the  same  limited  ^ 
parish  system  with  them.  The  descendants  of  these 
early  colonists  have  been  in  the  main  the  most  pros- 
perous and  successful  in  business  of  all  our  popu- 
lation, and  they  have  established  in  every  State,  and 
especially  in  every  large  city,  a  collection  of 
churches  which  do  an  important  and  useful  work 
among  their  own  members  and  regular  attendants, 
and  which  bestow  considerable  sums  in  charity  upon 
the  very  poor  whose  immediate  physical  wants  ap- 
peal to  the  common  sympathies  of  humanity,  and 
have  ever  found  Christian  people  ready  to  help. 
But  this  system  has  left  out  of  account  almost 
entirely  the  incalculable  change  which  has  taken 
place  in  the  material  conditions  of  cur  people. 
Great  fortunes  have  multiplied.  Great  corporations 
have  united  in  one  organization  the  capital  and  skill 
of  many.  We  have  ceased  to  be  a  homogeneous 
people;  multitudes  of  foreigners  have  come  to  our 
shores  and  established  themselves  among  us.  To  a 
large  extent  their  children  have  become  a  part  of  our 
people,  but  to  a  large  extent  also  they  have  main- 
tained their  national  customs  and  peculiarities. 

The  tendency  of  our  public  school  system  has 
been  to  train  American  children  for  business  and 
professional  pursuits.  Until  a  very  recent  period 
there  have  been  no  public  technical  schools  what- 
ever. The  result  of  this  has  been  that  skilled  work- 
men in  the  different  trades  to  a  large  extent  are 
foreigners,  and  for  this  reason  also,  have  come  to 
constitute  a  class  by  themselves. 

These  difficulties  had  no  existence  in  the  middle 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     139 

ages.  Five  centuries  ago  the  Christian  Church  in 
Europe  included  within  the  scope  of  its  organiza- 
tion the  whole  people.  There  were,  it  is  true,  great 
diversities  in  material  condition,  but  the  Church 
found  room  for  all.  One  of  its  principal  func- 
tions was  to  defend  the  poor  against  the  oppres- 
sion of  powerful  nobles.  The  terrors  of  the  Church 
were  sometimes  used  on  behalf  of  cruel  and  op- 
pressive monarchs,  but  quite  as  often  on  behalf  of 
the  lower  and  middle  classes  against  their  feudal 
oppressors.  The  bitter  disputes  between  different 
theological  schools  in  regard  to  various  dogmas,  did 
not  affect  the  unity  of  organization,  and  were  not 
appreciated  or  shared  by  the  great  body  of  the 
people.  The  Reformation,  which  put  an  end  to  so 
many  abuses,  and  brought  with  it  so  many  bless- 
ings, had  yet  this  great  and  unspeakable  disadvan- 
tage; that  it  divided  Christendom  into  many  dif- 
ferent churches.  The  very  eagerness  with  which 
men  maintained  and  even  fought  for  the  doctrines 
in  which  they  believed  set  them  at  enmity,  one 
against  the  other,  and  it  came  to  pass  that  Chris- 
tian people  were  more  aggressive  in  the  defence  of 
this  or  that  theoretical  proposition,  than  they  were 
diligent  in  the  practice  of  the  cardinal  virtues  of  the 
doctrine  of  Christ  in  which  they  all  agreed.  The 
Sacrament  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  which  He  estab- 
lished as  a  bond  of  union,  became  an  element  of 
discord,  and  in  England  was  even  made  a  political 
test.  Divided  and  torn  asunder  by  these  conflicting 
elements,  the  churches  lost,  to  a  large  degree,  their 
hold  upon  the  common  people;  and  ceased  to  be  a 


I40     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

shelter  for  them  against  oppression.  They  lost 
their  power  because  they  were  untrue  to  their 
Leader,  from  whom  power  alone  could  come. 

The  result  of  all  this  has  been  that  we  are  con- 
fronted in  all  our  large  cities  with  a  great  body  of 
workingmen  who  earn  thirty  to  forty  dollars  a 
week,  often  more,  who  are  as  much  out  of  relation 
with  the  Church,  as  if  they  lived  in  Greenland  or 
Kamchatka.  Our  churches  do  much  good  work  in 
alms  to  the  very  poor.  They  care  for  and  feed  the 
sick  and  hungry.  We  would  not  for  a  moment 
underrate  the  value  of  the  work  that  is  done  in  re- 
lieving them,  nor  diminish  by  one  jot  the  praise 
that  is  due  to  the  self-denial,  patience,  and  sym- 
pathy of  those  noble  men  and  women,  in  every 
church,  who  bring  comfort  and  help  to  the  suf- 
fering. But  it  is  not  the  very  poor  who  most  need 
the  instruction  and  aid  of  the  Church.  Too  long 
have  we  allowed  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands within  sound  of  our  church  bells  and  within 
sight  of  our  church  doors,  to  pass  by  on  the  other 
side.  The  time  has  come  when  the  churches  must 
awake  to  their  duty  in  this  matter,  for  upon  the 
discharge  of  that  duty  depends  the  permanence  and 
prosperity  of  the  whole  fabric  of  our  civilization. 
There  is  only  one  tree  whose  leaves  are  for  the 
healing  of  the  nations  and  that  is  the  Cross  of 
Christ. 

The  ideal  Christian  commonwealth  is  one  in 
which  every  citizen  of  the  State  is  also  a  member 
of  the  Christian  Church,  and  in  which,  therefore, 
all  men  not  only  are,  but  feel  themselves  to  be 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     141 

brethren,  and  as  brethren  mutually  helpful  and 
mutually  dependent/.  Poets  sung  of  Arcadia,  but 
Christ  and  His  apostles  first  presented  to  man,  not 
as  an  object  of  fanciful  speculation,  but  as  an  ideal 
for  the  realization  of  which  every  one  is  bound  to 
strive,  this  marvellous  conception  of  universal 
brotherhood.  The  Apostle  describes  the  Christian 
commonwealth  as  one  where  there  "  is  neither 
Greek  nor  Jew,  circumcision  nor  uncircumcision, 
Barbarian,  Scythian,  bond  nor  free,  but  Christ  is  all 
and  in  all."  *  These  words  sound  familiar  to  our 
ears ;  we  have  heard  them  since  childhood ;  but  have 
we  ever  translated  them  into  the  language  of  the 
twentieth  century,  have  we  ever  presented  to  our- 
selves the  ideal  Christian  commonwealth  as  one  in 
which  there  is  no  distinction  of  race  or  caste,  so  far 
as  the  ministry  and  services  of  the  Church  are  con- 
cerned; in  which  there  should  be  neither  white  nor 
black,  neither  Irishman,  Scandinavian,  Italian,  or 
Chinaman?  What  these  words  are  to  us  the  words 
of  the  Apostle  were  to  him,  and  they  had  even  a 
stranger  sound  in  the  ears  of  those  who  heard  him 
than  the  corresponding  terms  can  have  in  ours.  His 
final  words,  *'  bond  nor  free,"  once  had  terrible 
significance  in  these  United  States,  but  after  the 
lapse  of  fifty  years  they  have  almost  died  out  of  our 
recollection.  When  St.  Paul  wrote  to  the  Colos- 
sians,  most  of  the  unskilled  labour  throughout  the 
Roman  Empire  was  slave  labour.  When  he  came 
to  speak  of  the  duty  of  the  employer  to  the  em- 
ployed, it  was  to  those  who  filled  the  place  of 
4  Col.  3:11. 


142     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

master  over  slaves  that  he  spoke.^'  If  to  them,  oc- 
cupying such  an  unnatural  position,  he  could  speak 
as  he  did,  how  much  more  significance  have  his 
words  to  us,  and  what  light  they  throw  on  all  the 
strife  between  labour  and  capital  that  often  lights 
our  horizon  like  lightning  out  of  a  thunder  cloud. 
To  the  workman  he  says :  Do  your  work  to  your 
very  best  ability,  not  scamping  it,  not  trying  to  do 
the  least  work  for  the  most  pay,  but  working  in  the 
sight  of  Him  from  whom  no  secrets  are  hid.  And 
to  capitalists,  owners  of  mills  and  factories,  heads 
of  stores  and  counting  houses,  yes,  all  who  employ 
labour,  he  says :  "  Do  the  same  things  unto  them, 
forbearing  threatening;  knowing  that  your  Master 
also  is  in  heaven,  neither  is  there  respect  of  persons 
with  him."  ^ 

True  is  it,  as  Coleridge  well  said,  that  "  the  main 
hindrance  to  the  use  of  the  Scriptures  as  your 
manual,  lies  in  the  notion  that  you  are  acquainted 
with  its  contents.  Truths  of  all  others  the  most 
awful  and  mysterious,  and  at  the  same  time  of  uni- 
versal interest,  are  considered  so  true  as  to  lose  all 
the  power  of  truth,  and  lie  bed-ridden  in  the  dormi- 
tory of  the  soul  side  by  side  with  the  most  despised 
and  exploded  errors."^  If  the  Christian  people  of 
this  country  could  once,  even  for  a  moment,  realize 
what  is  meant  by  the  Word  of  God  that  has  been 
read  by  them  and  to  them  so  many  times,  and  for 
so  many  years,  if  they  could  realize,  that  the  more 


5  Eph.  6:  g. 

«  Statesman's  Manual— Tht  Bible  the  best  guide  to  political 
skill  and  foresight. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     143 

mistaken  societies  of  workingmen  are,  the  more 
they  need  to  be  educated;  that  the  Church  owes 
them  the  duty  of  education,  not  the  training  of  the 
intellect  but  the  training  of  the  heart,  the  teaching 
that  man  should  not  make  it  the  main  part  of  his 
life  to  get  the  most  he  can  from  his  fellows  with- 
out respect  or  consideration  for  their  rights  or  his 
duties; 'if  we  could  once  realize  that  it  is  our  part  y 
and  duty,  iiTevery  relation  of  life,  not  simply  to  con- 
sider our  own  interest,  but  the  interest  and  the  wel- 
fare of  all  with  whom,  as  men,  we  become  in  any 
way  related,  we  should  soon  cease  to  deplore  that 
the  majority  of  men  who  get  their  living  by  daily 
wages  have  no  interest  in  our  churches  and  seldom 
darken  their  doors.  We  have  treated  our  minds  as 
we  do  the  temples  in  which  we  worship.  We  shut 
out  or  obscure  the  light  of  heaven  and  seek  to  pro- 
vide an  imperfect  substitute  by  artificial  illumina- 
tion, which  has  neither  the  power  nor  the  beauty  of 
that  which  God  supplies. 

We  look  about  us  and  behold  on  every  hand  asso- 
ciations of  workingmen;  they  call  themselves  by 
different  names,  but  they  have  all  learned  the  power 
and  usefulness  of  mutual  helpfulness.  Their  obedi- 
ence to  their  leaders  is  something  that  cannot  fail  to 
excite  our  wonder;  their  fidelity  even  to  a  bad  cause, 
ought  to  arouse  our  admiration.  They  have  done 
much  good;  unfortunately,  also,  they  have  done 
much  harm.  They  have  been  often  misled,  and 
have  frequently  imitated  the  injustice  with  which 
too  often  they  have  been  treated.  In  many  of  their 
public  utterances  and  actions  they  have  shown  want 


144'     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

of  sympathy  with  the  interests  of  their  employers, 
and  have  failed  to  see  that  in  the  only  true  sense, 
the  interest  of  the  employer  and  the  interest  of  the 
workman  are  identical.  But  the  power  and  in- 
fluence of  the  demagogue  is  nothing  new.  Three 
thousand  years  ago  the  prophet  described  in  terms 
which  no  subsequent  writer  has  been  able  to  make 
more  vivid,  the  vile  person  who  spoke  villainy,  who 
made  empty  the  soul  of  the  hungry,  and  caused  the 
drink  of  the  thirsty  to  fail."^  The  men  who  in  all 
time  are  leaders  of  causeless  strikes,  are  quite  in- 
different to  the  sufferings  of  the  hungry  wife  and 
children  of  the  men  who  are  out,  if  they  can  only 
feel  the  satisfaction  of  displaying  their  power,  and 
carrying  their  point.  Yet  we  must  not  fail  to 
acknowledge  that  the  labour  organizations  have  had 
wnse  and  temperate  leaders  like  Mr.  Powderly  and 
Samuel  Gompers,  whose  influence  has  been  in  the 
main  for  good  and  not  for  evil. 

The  same  prophet  who  described  the  vile  persons 
of  his  day,  left  for  all  time  the  inspired  maxim,  that 
"  the  liberal  deviseth  liberal  things  and  by  liberal 
things  shall  he  stand."  ^  In  many  factory  towns 
mills  are  constructed  and  managed  upon  liberal  prin- 
ciples. For  example,  provision  is  made  for  purify- 
ing the  air.  Boys  sprinkle  water  in  order  that  the 
threads  of  cotton  from  the  work  may  not  float 
about  in  the  atmosphere  and  injure  the  lungs  of  the 
working  people.  The  place  of  their  work  is  made 
beautiful  by  plants  along  the  wall;  reading  rooms 
and  comfortable  dwellings  are  provided  where  the 

7lsa.  32:6.  sjsa.  32:8. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     145 

hours  of  rest  or  recreation  may  be  spent.  There  are 
also  many  instances  in  which  the  employer  has  won 
the  confidence  of  his  workmen  by  providing  for  the 
increase  of  their  wages  when  his  profits  increased. 
No  doubt  there  is  the  obvious  objection  that  em- 
ployees are  unwilling  to  share  in  losses,  and  that 
sharing  in  profits  ought  to  involve  sharing  in  losses. 
It  is  easy  to  suggest  difficulties.  The  question  as  to 
how  working  people  are  most  eflfectively  to  be  inter- 
ested in  their  work,  in  its  success  and  the  success 
of  their  employers,  is  a  problem  not  yet  wholly 
solved.  It  never  will  be  solved  until  every  man 
who  acknowledges  allegiance  to  our  Lord,  feels  it 
his  duty  to  care  for  and  consider  the  welfare  of  all 
whom  he  employs,  or  with  whom  he  enters  into  any 
business  relation,  as  if  it  v/ere  his  own.  But  we 
have  not  lost  faith  in  the  power  of  God.  We  be- 
lieve that  in  the  end  evil  will  be  conquered.  As 
Luther  said :  "  Will  you  cringe  and  doubt  as  if  the 
world  were  to  be  conqueror,  and  not  Christ?  "  And 
how  will  it  be  overcome  except  by  the  united  efforts 
of  Christian  people?  How  can  these  efforts  ever  be 
united,  or  ever  be  successful,  unless  begun  in  faith 
and  carried  out  with  courage  ? — unless  we  open  our 
eyes,  as  did  Elisha's  servant  and  behold  the  angels 
of  God,  His  power,  His  greatness,  His  omnipotence 
on  our  side,  and  realize  that  they  that  be  for  us  are 
more  than  they  that  be  against  us? 

The  defects  that  have  been  pointed  out  in  the 
work  of  the  Christian  Church  and  the  admitted  im- 
perfections of  its  organization,  have  often  led  men 
to  ignore  some  of  the  most  important  factors  in 


146     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

social  progress  which  the  world  has  known  during 
the  past  century. 

It  is  centuries  since  monastic  orders  were  formed 
in  the  Greek  Church,  and  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
Church.  These  orders,  during  the  middle  ages, 
were  of  great  value  in  keeping  alive  the  love  of 
books  and  literature;  in  defending  the  weak  from 
the  oppression  of  the  powerful;  and  in  caring  for 
the  poor  and  the  sick.  So  much  has  been  written 
of  the  work  of  the  Franciscans,  the  Dominicans  and 
other  religious  orders  that  it  is  unnecessary  to  refer 
to  them  more  at  length. 

But  attention  has  not  been  sufficiently  directed  to 
the  fact  that  the  Salvation  Army,  the  Young  Men's 
Christian  Association  and  the  Young  Women's 
Christian  Association  are  really  Protestant  religious 
orders.  Ever  since  the  monastic  orders  were 
formed  there  has  been  a  certain  amount  of  jeal- 
ousy between  them  and  the  regular  clergy.  It  is 
not  surprising  that  similar  conditions  in  Protestant 
churches  should  produce  similar  results,  but  in 
neither  case  is  the  jealousy  justified. 

The  organized  Church  has  its  members,  men, 
women,  and  children.  Into  the  various  parishes  the 
great  events  of  human  life,  marriage,  birth,  and 
death  are  constantly  coming.  It  is  the  first  duty  of 
the  pastor  of  each  flock  to  care  for  the  members  of 
it  and  to  sympathize,  aid,  and  guide  his  people  in 
religious  treatment  of  these  fundamental  facts.  He 
is  to  be  an  example  to  the  believers  "  in  word, 
manner  of  life,  in  love,  in  faith,  in  purity."  He 
should  "give  heed  to  reading,  to  exhortation,  to 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     147 

teaching."  All  this  is  the  home  work  and  it  is  of 
the  first  importance.  Following  this  naturally 
comes  the  organ izc^tion  for  mission  work  outside  the 
various  parishes.  iMen  and  women  who  have  love 
in  their  hearts  wirl  naturally  show  it  as  our  Lord 
did.  Some  will  have  a  call  to  go  into  foreign 
lands  and  teach  and  encourage  the  people  there. 
Others  will  find  work  in  their  own  country  among 
those  who  are  ignorant  or  out  of  the  way.  In  either 
case  the  first  duty  of  the  Church  is  to  teach  the 
fundamental  principles  of  the  gospel,  and  the  men 
and  women  who  are  taught,  if  they  receive  the  truth 
in  reality,  will  feel  it  their  duty  to  give  to  others 
the  unspeakable  gift  they  have  themselves  received.^ 

All  this  is  what  happened  in  the  development  of 
the  Christian  Church.  Its  regular  pastors  and 
teachers  did  their  work,  and  those  who  received  their 
teachings  and  had  their  hearts  quickened  by  the 
spirit  of  God  felt  a  call  to  share  with  others  what 
they  themselves  had  received.  One  of  them  was 
George  Williams,  a  London  merchant.  In  1844  ^^ 
founded  there  the  Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion for  social  and  religious  work  for  young  men. 
This  work  has  grown  in  a  wonderful  way.  When 
first  we  knew  it  in  New  York,  in  1857,  the  Asso- 
ciation had  two  or  three  small  rooms  in  the  old 
Clinton  Hall.  Then  it  erected  the  building  on  the 
corner  of  Twenty-third  Street  and  Fourth  Avenue. 
Now  it  has  branches  and  buildings  all  over  the 
city.  Not  only  does  it  undertake  to  provide  re- 
ligious teaching,  scientific  and  business  instruction, 
and  innocent  amusement  for  young  men  who  are  in 


148     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

business,  but  it  does  important  work  among  the 
students  of  the  city.  New  York  has  come  to  have 
the  greatest  student  population  of  any  city  of 
America. 

There  are  Associations  in  every  large  American 
city.  There  is  an  International  Committee  which 
maintains  branches  in  every  continent.  During  the 
war  it  has  undertaken  a  special  work  for  the  sol- 
diers. This  has  mainly  been  done  by  laymen.  The 
number  of  persons  employed  to  give  their  whole 
time  to  the  Association  is  very  large.  It  has  estab- 
lished a  special  training  school  for  its  secretaries. 
Their  work  is  largely  done  among  men  who  have 
no  special  Church  associations  and  who  have  come 
into  the  cities  where  the  Association  exists  and  have 
not  vet  established  a  home  there.  But  in  the  main 
the  Associations  co-operate  with  the  churches.  Each 
uro^es  its  members  to  join  one  of  the  Christian 
churches  in  the  city  where  they  live,  and  thus  not 
only  to  receive  the  benefit  of  the  church  teaching 
but  to  co-operate  in  church  work.  In  every  one  the 
purpose  is  to  guide  and  encourage  the  members  to 
apply  Christian  principle  to  practical  life.  Men  who 
know  this  life  can  do  that  better  than  those  who  do 
not  know.  This  seems  trite,  but  like  many  obvious 
truths  it  is  often  overlooked.  A  caustic  critic  has 
asked  why  the  Christian  ministers  did  not  tell  our 
statesmen  what  they  ought  to  do  in  the  beginning  of 
the  war?  The  answer  is  that  Christian  ministers 
are  not  trained  to  be  statesmen.  When  they  under- 
take that  job  they  generally  make  a  mess  of  it. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     149 

There  are  many  pastors  but  few  are  qualified  to  be 
prophets.  Henry  C.  Potter  had  perhaps  as  much  of 
the  character  and  training  of  a  statesman  as  any 
American  bishop.  He  saw  clearly  the  fundamental 
proposition  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  clergy  to  teach 
with  all  their  might  religious  truths,  and  leave  to 
laymen  the  duty  of  applying  these  truths  in  practical 
politics.  In  1900  he  pointed  out  in  stinging  words 
the  crimes  that  were  tolerated  in  the  Tenth  Ward, 
but  he  refused  to  join  in  the  leadership  of  the 
citizens'  movement  to  clean  the  Augean  stables 
and  punish  the  criminals.  As  a  citizen  he  did  his 
part  in  the  ranks.  In  Hke  manner  when  the 
brutality  of  the  Huns  became  known  to  us  there 
were  many  clergymen  who  raised  their  voices  in 
indignant  protest.  But  as  a  rule  they  wisely  left  to 
the  President  the  decision  when  to  recommend  a 
declaration  of  war. 

To  illustrate.  The  minister  should  try  to  inspire 
the  young  men  who  are  going  into  the  Navy  with 
courage,  patience,  unfaltering  faith,  absolute  devo- 
tion to  duty.  But  it  would  be  foolish  for  him  to 
try  to  instruct  them  in  gunnery  or  navigation. 

Many  people  seem  to  think  it  is  an  easy  matter 
to  conduct  a  great  government.  But  those  who  are 
familiar  with  the  facts  know  that  this  is  more 
difficult  than  the  navigation  of  a  ship. 

The  part  which  the  Christian  Church  has  taken  in 
this  great  crisis  of  world  history  has  in  part  been 
done  by  its  chaplains,  with  devotion  unsurpassed. 
But  it  has  also  been  done  by  the  Young  Men's  Chris- 


150     A  LAWYER^S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

tian  Association,  the  Young  Women's  Christian 
Association,  the  Salvation  Army,  and  many  others. 

The  men  and  women  who  are  active  in  the  Asso- 
ciations or  the  Army  are  almost  invariably  members 
of  Christian  churches.  They  received  their  train- 
ing from  the  Church.  To  fault  the  churches  be- 
cause they  do  not  do  the  work  of  the  Associations  is 
as  unreasonable  as  it  would  have  been  for  President 
Lincoln  to  blame  the  mother  of  the  seven  sons  who 
were  killed  in  battle  for  the  Union,  because  she  had 
not  gone  to  the  war  herself.  The  Church  taught 
these  men  the  love  of  God  and  man.  It  taught 
them  to  show  their  love  by  works  of  kindness  and 
sympathy.  No  doubt  it  is  true  that  the  demands  of 
the  millions  of  men  engaged  in  the  present  war  have 
called  forth  contributions  to  the  Christian  Asso- 
ciations and  to  the  Salvation  Army  on  a  larger  scale 
than  have  ever  been  given  in  any  one  year  to  any 
one  specific  work  of  the  churches.  But  this  money 
is  given  largely  by  members  of  churches  and  is  in 
reality,  if  not  in  form,  the  work  of  the  Church. 
There  is  then  no  room  for  jealousy  on  either  side, 
but  a  call  for  the  most  cordial  co-operation,  and  it 
should  be  added  that  American  churches  gave  in 
1917  for  their  own  specific  Christian  work,  in  the 
aggregate,  more  than  seven  million  dollars. 

Perhaps  no  one  has  described  the  co-operation  at 
the  battle  front  of  the  chaplain  and  of  the  Associa- 
tion better  than  a  Canadian,  Harold  R.  Peat,  in 
the  bock  called  '*  Private  Peat,"  which  has  recently 
been  published.  He  gives  this  illuminating  ac- 
count : 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SOCIAL  PROGRESS     151 

"  We  have  our  thoughts,  our  hopes  and  our  aspira- 
tions. Some  of  us  have  our  Bibles  and  our  prayer 
books,  some  of  us  have  rosaries  and  crucifixes.  All 
of  us  have  deep  in  our  hearts  love,  veneration  and 
respect  for  the  sky-pilot — chaplain,  if  you  would 
rather  call  him  so.  To  us  sky-pilot  and  very  truly  so ; 
the  man  who  not  only  points  the  way  to  higher  things, 
but  the  man  who  travels  with  us  over  the  rough  road 
which  leads  to  peace  in  our  innermost  selves. 

"  It  does  not  matter  of  what  sect  or  of  what  de- 
nomination these  men  may  be.  On  the  battlefield  there 
are  Anglican  clergy,  there  are  Roman  Catholic  priests, 
there  are  ministers  of  the  Presbyterian,  the  Methodist, 
the  Baptist  and  other  non-conformist  faiths.  Creed 
and  doctrine  play  no  part  when  men  are  gasping  out 
a  dying  breath  and  the  last  message  home.  The 
chaplain  carries  in  his  heart  the  comfort  for  the  man 
who  is  facing  eternity.  We  do  not  want  to  die.  We 
are  all  strong  r.nd  full  of  life  and  hope  and  power 
of  doing.  Suddenly  we  are  stricken  beyond  mortal 
aid.  The  chaplain  comes  and  in  a  few  phrases  gives 
us  the  password,  the  sign  which  admits  us  to  the 
peaceful  masonry  of  Christianity.  Rough  men  pass 
away,  hard  men  *  go  West '  with  a  smile  of  peace 
upon  their  pain  tortured  lips,  if  the  padre  can  get 
to  them  in  time  for  the  parting  word,  the  cheerful, 
colloquial  '  best  o'  luck.' 

"  Hand  in  hand  with  the  chaplains  at  the  front  is 
the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  It  is  doing  a  marvellous  work  among 
the  troops.  The  Y.  M.  C.  A.  huts  are  scattered  all 
over  the  fighting  front.  Here  you  will  find  the  padre 
with  his  coat  off  engaged  in  the  real  '  shirt  sleeve  ' 
religion  of  the  trenches.  Here  there  are  all  possible 
comforts,  even  little  luxuries  for  the  boys.  Here  are 
concerts — the  best  and  best-known  artists  come  out 
and  give  their  services  to  cheer  up  Tommy.  Here  the 
padres  will  hold  five  or  six  services  in  an  evening  for 
the  benefit  of  the  five  or  six  relays  of  men  who  can 


152     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

attend.  Here  are  checker-boards,  chess  sets,  cards, 
games  of  all  sorts.  Here  is  a  miniature  departmental 
store  where  footballs,  mouth  organs,  pins,  needles, 
buttons,  cotton,  everything  can  be  bought. 

"  *  What's  the  place  wid  the  red  Triangle  ? '  asked 
the  Irish  soldier,  lately  joined  up  and  only  out,  from 
a  Scotch-Canadian  who  stood  near  by. 

"*Yon?  D'ye  mean  to  say  ye  dinna  know  the 
meaning  o'  thon?  Why,  mon,  yon's  the  place  whaur 
ye  get  a  packet  o'  fags,  a  bar  o'  chocolate,  a  soft 
drink  and  salvation  for  twenty-five  cents.' 

*'  Can  folk  wonder  why  we  love  the  padres,  why  we 
reverence  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.?  Can  folk  wonder  why 
the  men  who  used  to  look  on  such  men  as  sissy-boys 
have  changed  their  opinions?  Can  folk  wonder  that 
the  religion  which  is  Christian  is  making  an  impres- 
sion on  the  soldier?  Can  folk  deny  the  fact  that  this 
war  will  make  better  men  ?  " 

To  sum  it  up :  Critics  of  the  Church  should  study 
the  twelfth  chapter  of  the  first  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
thians. "There  are  diversities  of  operations,  but 
it  is  the  same  God  who  worketh  all  in  all.  .  .  . 
Are  all  apostles,  are  all  prophets,  are  all  teachers?  " 
There  were  many  priests  in  Jerusalem,  but  only  one 
Isaiah.  There  were  many  priests  among  the  cap- 
tive Jews,  but  only  one  Ezekiel.  Even  so  it  is  now. 
And  the  prophet  was  not  always  a  priest.  Christ 
Himself  was  of  the  tribe  of  Judah,  "whereof  no 
man  gave  attendance  at  the  altar."  In  His  Church 
there  may  be  more  prophetic  gift  in  layman  than  in 
priest.  "  All  these  worketh  that  one  and  the  self- 
same Spirit,  dividing  to  every  man  severally  as  he 
will."  * 
»!  Cor.  12:4-11. 


FORMALISM 

TPIE  besetting  sin  of  religionists  is  the  attach- 
ing undue  importance  to  outward  observ- 
ances. Devotion  to  duty  implies  conscien- 
tiousness. The  conscience  naturally  is  offended 
when  it  perceives  external  transgressions.  If  a  man 
is  drunk  and  disorderly  a  commotion  is  produced. 
If  a  man  strikes  another  the  natural  impulse  is  to 
strike  back,  and  then  there  is  a  row.  It  is  very 
disagreeable  to  hear  two  angry  women  quarrel. 
When  any  of  these  or  the  like  offences  are  com- 
mitted in  public  the  man  or  the  woman  who  does 
not  commit  them  naturally  says :  This  must  be 
stopped.    Call  a  policeman. 

The  more  devout  the  believer,  the  more  this 
temper  will  extend  to  the  externals  of  religious 
worship.  Reverence  naturally  makes  the  believer 
more  solicitous  for  the  punctilious  observance  of 
religious  rites. 

As  we  study  the  sacred  books  of  the  Hebrews,  we 
find,  coupled  with  many  spiritual  precepts,  detailed 
requirements  as  to  the  construction  of  the  taber- 
nacle, with  its  curtains  of  blue,  purple,  and  scarlet, 
its  veil,  the  ark  of  acacia  wood,  overlaid  with  pure 

153 


154     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

gold,  the  golden  candlestick  with  its  almond  flower 
cups,  the  altar  of  acacia  wood,  overlaid  with  gold; 
the  brazen  laver,  the  hangings  of  the  court,  with  its 
pillars  and  their  capitals,  overlaid  with  silver,  the 
covering  of  ramskins,  dyed  red/  Then  follow  in 
Leviticus  even  more  exact  details  as  to  the  outward 
worship  of  God;  the  burnt  offerings,  the  meal  offer- 
ing, the  peace  offering,  the  sin  offering,  the  trespass 
offering,^  the  anointing  of  the  high  priest,  and  his 
sons,  the  consecration  of  the  priests.^  Then  we 
find  minute  commands  as  to  diet,  hygiene,  the  treat- 
ment of  lepers,*  and  the  great  day  of  atonement  for 
sins.^ 

The  author  of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  a  thou- 
sand years  after,  taught  the  Hebrews  of  his  day, 
and  all  men  that  ''  it  is  impossible  that  the  blood  of 
bulls  and  of  goats  should  take  away  sins.^  He  de- 
clares that  the  ordinances  of  the  Jewish  temple 
worship  were  '*  carnal  ordinances,  imposed  on  them 
until  the  time  of  reformation."  ^  He  quotes  the 
words  of  the  prophet  Jeremiah:  "Behold  the  days 
come,  saith  the  Lord,  that  I  will  make  a  new  cove- 
nant with  the  house  of  Israel  and  the  house  of 
Judah;  ...  I  will  put  my  laws  into  their  mind, 
and  on  their  heart  also  wall  I  write  them,  and  I 
will  be  to  them  a  God,  and  they  shall  be  to  me  a 
people."  ^  And  he  declares  that  this  "  new  cove- 
nant"   makes   the   first   old.      "Now   that   which 


1  Exod.  3<^38.  5  Lev.  i6. 

2  Lev.  Ch.  1-7.  «Heb.  10:4. 

3  Lev.  Ch.  8,  9.  "^  Heb.  9 :  10. 

*Lev.  Ch.  11-15.  «Jer.  31:31,  33;  quoted  Heb.  8:8,  10. 


FORMALISM  155 

decayeth  and  waxeth  old  is  ready  to  vanish 
away."  ® 

The  elaborate  ritual  of  sacrifices  did  vanish  for 
the  gorgeous  Temple  was  destroyed  by  Titus  and 
has  never  been  restored.  But  the  temper  that  made 
it  attractive  remained  and  has  not  vanished  from 
the  hearts  either  of  Jews  or  Christians.  To  men 
and  women  of  a  poetic  temperament  these  elabo- 
rate ceremonials  and  minute  observances  are  at- 
tractive. We  must  not  condemn  them  altogether. 
Yet  we  must  not  forget  that  they  often  tend  to 
draw  the  soul  away  from  devotion  to  the  new  cove- 
nant of  love  and  of  service  to  God,  in  the  spirit 
of  love,  as  to  a  loving  Father,  and  to  men,  as  His 
children  and  our  brothers. 

Startling,  almost  terrifying  instances  of  this 
have  been  manifested  in  our  day  and  have  brought 
unspeakable  woe  to  individual  nations  and  to  the 
world. 

The  Russian  Church  for  many  centuries  has  been 
punctilious  in  religious  observances.  In  every 
house  there  was  a  sacred  ikon  to  which  reverence 
was  paid.  These  details  were  diligently  taught  and 
the  traveller  in  Russia  would  say  as  St.  Paul  did 
of  the  Athenians — *'  I  perceive  that  ye  are  very 
religious."  ^^  But  alas !  "  the  weightier  matters  of 
the  law,  justice  and  mercy  and  faith,"  "  were  too 
often  overlooked — smothered,  as  it  were,  by  the 
-superincumbent  feather-bed  of  forms.  Revolution 
came,  and  chaos  came  with  it.    Religion  means  and 

9Heb.  8:13.  10  Acts  17:22,  R.  V. 

11  Matt.  23 :  23. 


156     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

ought  to  be,  a  bond  that  binds  together  the  different 
classes  of  society  in  mutual  helpfulness.  Instead  of 
this,  we  saw  class  hatred  in  bitter  form,  the  work- 
men against  their  employers,  and  against  the  peas- 
ants; the  peasants  against  the  landowners  and 
against  the  workmen;  the  soldiers  against  their  of- 
ficers, and  the  officers  against  the  soldiers.  All 
bonds  were  broken,  the  houses  of  people  who  had 
any  property  and  the  churches  themselves  were  pil- 
laged and  many  of  them  destroyed. 

Again,  in  Germany  we  beheld  a  Kaiser,  devout  in 
all  outward  rites  and  ceremonies,  appealing  to  God 
as  his  ally,  supporting  liberally  the  national  Church. 
Yet  he  began  a  war  in  violation  of  sacred  treaties, 
and  in  its  conduct  broke  all  the  laws  of  war  em- 
bodied not  only  in  international  law,  but  in  the 
Hague  conventions,  to  which  he  had  solemnly 
agreed.  He  enslaved  the  captives  taken  by  his 
armies  in  Belgium  and  in  France.  Yet  in  the  Bible 
which  he  professes  to  reverence  and  which  is  read 
in  the  churches  of  which  he  claimed  to  be  the  head, 
he  might  have  read,  probably  did  read,  of  a  Hebrew 
king,  who  made  a  covenant  with  all  the  people  at 
Jerusalem  to  deliver  their  brethren  from  bondage, 
and  afterwards  broke  his  treaty,  and  reduced  them 
to  servitude.  The  warning  of  the  prophet  is  already 
fulfilled.  "  Therefore—thus  saith  the  Lord—*  Ye 
have  not  hearkened  unto  me,  to  proclaim  liberty, 
every  man  to  his  brother,  and  every  man  to  his 
neighbour;  behold  I  proclaim  unto  you  a  liberty — 
saith  the  Lord — to  the  sword  and  to  the  pestilence, 
and  to  the  famine ;  and  I  will  make  you  to  be  tossed 


FORMALISM  157 

to    and    fro    among    all    the    kingdoms    of    the 
earth.'  "  ^^ 

Men  are  always  forgetting  that  the  righteous  law   J 
of  God  is  just  as  certain  and  unchanging  as  the  law' 
of  gravitation.    Its  applications  change  with  chang- 
ing conditions,  but  the  law  itself  is  unchanging  as 
God  Himself,  and  can  never  be  broken  with  im- 
punity. 

Thus  have  we  briefly  traced  the  progressive  reve- 
lation of  God's  will  and  shown  how  He  taught  a 
primitive  people,  as  children  are  taught,  and  how 
afterwards  the  divine  and  spiritual  reality  was  more 
fully  revealed  as  man  became  more  ready  to  re- 
ceive it.  As  St.  Paul  says :  "  The  law  was  our 
schoolmaster  to  bring  us  to  Christ."  ^^ 

But  actually,  when  Christ  did  come,  notwith- 
standing the  teaching  of  the  prophets  to  which  we 
have  referred,  and  which  was  "  read  in  the  syna- 
gogues every  Sabbath-day  "  ^*  He  found  a  strong 
party  among  the  chosen  people,  of  whom  Robert- 
son justly  says:  ^^ 

"  The  Pharisees  had  no  notion  of  any  other  good- 
ness than  that  which  is  restrained ;  they  could  con- 
ceive no  goodness  free,  but  only  that  which  is  re- 
strained by  rewards  and  punishments :  law-goodness, 
law-righteousness:  to  dread  God,  not  to  love  and 
trust  Him,  was  their  conception  of  religion." 

Christ  knew  that  this  temper  was  hostile  to  true 
religion.    He  began  His  strife  with  the  Pharisees  by 

i2Jer.  34:17.  R.  V. 

^3  Gal.  3  :  24. 

1*  Acts  5:21. 

15"  Sermons,"  Vol.  Ill,  p.  65,  London  ed.,  1878. 


158     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

condemning  their  rigid  and  formal  observance  of 
the  Sabbath.  The  law  of  Moses  prohibited  work 
on  that  day.  All  experience  since  has  shown  that 
the  observance  of  one  day  in  seven  as  a  day  of  rest 
and  worship  is  beneficial  to  mankind.  In  many 
States  of  the  American  Union,  in  which  manufac- 
turies  of  steel  and  other  products  exist  which  re- 
quire continuous  operation,  laws  have  been  passed 
requiring  employers  to  give  those  workmen  who  of 
necessity  work  on  Sunday,  another  day  of  rest. 
But  this  principle,  embodied  in  the  Fourth  Com- 
mandment the  Pharisees  perverted,  and  condemned 
Christ  and  sought  to  kill  Him  for  healing  the  sick 
on  the  Sabbath  and  condemned  His  disciples  for 
plucking  ears  of  grain  on  that  day  to  satisfy  their 
hunger.^^ 

Christ's  reply  went  to  the  root  of  the  matter. 
"  If  ye  had  known  what  this  meaneth — *  I  will  have 
mercy  and  not  sacrifice' — (Hosea  6:6)  ye  would 
not  have  condemned  the  guiltless.  The  Sabbath 
was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  Sabbath : 
therefore  the  son  of  man  is  Lord  also  of  the 
Sabbath." 

Here  the  two  principles  of  action  are  sharply 
contrasted.  The  soul  which  is  devoted  to  mercy 
and  the  soul  which  is  devoted  to  external  observ- 
ances are  antitheses.  It  is  hard  for  the  latter  to 
understand  the  former.  Ignorance  and  misunder- 
standing are  the  parents  of  hate  and  persecution. 

Christ's  next  encounter  with  the  Pharisees  was 

i«  John    5:7-16;    Matt.    12:1-8;    Mark    2 :  23-  28 ;    Luke 
6:1-5. 


FORMALISM  159 

with  reference  to  their  punctilious  harshness  re- 
specting details  of  conduct.  The  law  of  Moses  con- 
tained many  commands  on  the  subject  of  cleanli- 
ness and  diet;  most  of  which  we  can  see  were 
reasonable,  and  for  all  of  which,  no  doubt,  there 
was  good  reason  at  the  time.  The  importance  of 
some  of  them  is  emphasized  by  modern  science.  As 
a  whole  the  hygienic  code  of  the  Hebrews  was  far 
in  advance  of  the  period  at  which  it  was  promul- 
gated. But  the  Pharisees  carried  these  requirements 
to  an  absurd  extreme :  and  tradition  had  added 
many  more  of  less  value.  On  these  the  Pharisees 
laid  great  stress,  and  neglected  to  teach  or  observe 
the  spiritual  commandments  of  God.^^  So  Christ 
taught  the  people  that  it  is  what  proceeds  from  the 
heart  that  really  defiles  the  man — "  Evil  thoughts, 
adulteries,  fornications,  murders,  covetousness, 
wickedness,  deceit,  lasciviousness,  an  evil  eye,  blas- 
phemy, pride,  foolishness.  All  these  evil  things 
come  from  within  and  defile  the  man."  ^* 

Christ  summed  it  all  in  the  parable  of  the  two 
sons.^^  The  Pharisees  were  represented  by  the  son 
who  said  he  would  go  to  work  in  his  father's  vine- 
yard, but  in  fact  went  not.  The  Pharisees  were 
respectable  people.  Their  outward  conduct  was  pre- 
cise. The  letter  of  the  law  they  rigidly  observed. 
But  Christ  said  to  them :  "  The  publicans  and  the 
harlots  (the  types  of  outward  and  conspicuous 
transgressors)  go  into  the  kingdom  of  God  before 
you." '' 

IT  Matt:  15:1-20;  Mark  7:1-23.  ^^Matt.  21:28-32. 

18  Mark  7 ;  21-23,  20  ^^tt,  21 :  31. 


i6o     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

And  when  His  last  great  debate  with  them  was 
ended,  in  the  very  week  of  His  crucifixion  He  made 
the  famous  address  to  the  people  in  which  He 
warned  them,  and  all  His  followers  against  the  sin 
of  formalism.  This  is  recorded  most  fully  in  the 
twenty-third  chapter  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel. 
Every  Christian  ought  to  read  it  often,  and  strive 
to  grasp  and  lay  to  heart  its  spiritual  significance. 
The  sect  of  the  Pharisees  has  passed  away.  But  in 
every  age  its  spirit  revives.  Their  name  which 
means — those  separate  from  others — and  which  was 
given  because  they  thought  themselves  holier  than 
the  common  people,  expressed  their  temper  well. 

The  prophet  of  their  own  people,  Isaiah,  had  con- 
demned it,  centuries  before.  The  people  that  pro- 
voked the  Lord  continually  were  those  w^ho  said : 
"  Stand  by  thyself,  come  not  near  to  me,  for  I  am 
holier  than  thou."  ^' 

The  churches  that  have  devoted  their  main  teach- 
ing to  outward  observances,  and  condemned  all  who 
did  not  agree  with  them  as  heretics;  the  Puritans 
who  made  music  and  dancing,  and  similar  amuse- 
ments a  crime,  punishable  by  fine  and  imprison- 
ment, religionists  who  have  made  Sunday  a  day  of 
gloom,  reformers  who  have  expended  their  strength 
and  money  in  advocating  penal  laws  against  inno- 
cent enjoyments,  and  sought  to  make  men  virtuous 
by  statute;  these  all  partake  of  the  Pharisee  spirit, 
and  need  to  study  the  warnings  of  Christ. 

We  are  fortunate  that  in  this  time  of  storm  and 
itress  there  is  a  religious  leader  who  has  expressed 
?Usa.  65:5. 


FORMALISM  i6i 

very  clearly  one  distinctive  quality  of  the  lite  and 
::haracter  of  Christ  with  which  we  may  well  con- 
dude  this  chapter :  ^^ 

"  There  was,  for  instance  the  social  quality  of  His 
goodness.  For  His  goodness  was  neither  austere 
morality,  nor  frigid  self -culture.  It  was  holiness, 
blended  with  passion  for  the  sinner,  knowledge 
softened  with  kindness  toward  the  unenlightened, 
purity  radiant  with  passion  to  reclaim.  The  Evan- 
gelist had  seen  Christ  at  Cana  serving  the  needs  of 
the  village  wedding  party.  .  .  .  He  had  seen  Him 
blaze  out  at  the  eyes  and  the  lips  when  face  to  face 
with  the  paralyzing  cant  of  formal  religion.  .  .  .  x\nd 
John  had  recognized  His  righteous  anger  as  having 
in  it  something  of  the  awful  glory  of  God." 

22  Rev.  J.  Stuart  Holden,  "Record  Christian  Work," 
Aug.,  1918,  p.  473. 


XI 

WAR 

LET  us  now  proceed  to  apply  our  rules  of  con- 
struction to  the  Christian  Ethics  of  War. 
We  must  therefore  consider  the  teaching  of 
the  Old  Testament  as  well  as  of  the  New.  For 
Christ  said  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount :  ''  Think 
not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the 
prophet;  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil."  ^ 
Christ  in  His  human  nature,  was  a  son  of  David,  of 
the  tribe  of  Judah.'  The  twelve  apostles  were  all 
Jews.  St.  Paul  calls  himself  "  a  Hebrew  of  the 
Hebrews."^  They  were  all  "taught  according  to 
the  perfect  manner  of  the  law  of  the  fathers."  * 
They  were  permeated  with  the  spirit  of  the  Old 
Testament.  The  New  had  not  been  written.  Un- 
doubtedly, it  was  part  of  their  commission  to  bring 
a  new  spirit  into  the  life  of  man,  to  liberate  him 
from  the  bondage  of  the  letter,  and  bring  him  into 
the  "  glorious  liberty  of  the  children  of  God."  ** 
But  any  one  who  will  compare  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to 
the  Romans  with  his  speech  before  King  Agrippa,* 
will  see  that  he  conceived  of  this  Christian  liberty 

1  Matt.  5 :  17.  *  Acts   22 :  3. 

2  Heb.  7 :  14.  ^  Rom.  8:21. 
»  Phil.  3:5.                                                               «  Acts  22. 


WAR  •  163 

as  did  his  Master,  as  a  fulfilment  of  the  law  and 
the  prophets.  What  light  then  does  the  Old 
Testament  throw  upon  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  ? 

In  the  historical  books,  the  wars  of  the  Hebrews 
against  the  cruel  and  licentious  nations  of  Canaan 
are  described  with  as  much  satisfaction  as  the  war 
correspondents  of  today  chronicled  the  victories  of 
the  Allies.  The  prophet  Isaiah  depicts  the  Divine 
Saviour  as  a  warrior  "  that  cometh  from  Edom, 
with  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah."  "  "  The  day  of 
justice  is  in  his  heart  and  the  year  of  his  redeemed 
is  come."  "Our  holy  and  beautiful  house  where 
our  fathers  praised  thee  (the  Cathedral  at  Rheims, 
we  would  say)  is  burned  with  fire,  and  all  our 
pleasant  things  are  laid  waste."  ^  It  was  for  jus- 
tice upon  the  cruel  oppressors,  as  well  as  upon  the 
sinners  of  his  own  people,  that  the  Divine  Saviour 
came — the  great  and  righteous  Judge,  King,  and 
Warrior. 

Let  the  reader  compare  this  sixty-third  chapter 
of  Isaiah  and  the  chapters  in  Ezekiel  (a  contempo- 
rary prophet)  which  describe  the  pride  and  the 
ruin  of  Tyre,^  with  the  Book  of  Revelation.  In 
each  we  have  a  graphic  description  of  a  proud  and 
prosperous  commercial  state.  The  prince  of  Tyre 
said — "  I  am  a  God,  I  sit  in  the  seat  of  God,  in 

^  Isa.  63;  I,  4,  George  Adam  Smith,  "Book  of  Isaiah," 
Vol.  11,  p.  441.  I  would  use  in  verse  4,  the  word  justice 
which  in  the  authorized  version  is  translated  vengeance.  To 
us,  justice  is  the  true  rendering. 

8  Tsa.  64:  Ti. 

9  Ezek.  26-28. 


i64     A  LAWYER^S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

the  midst  of  the  seas.  ...  By  thy  great  wisdom 
and  by  thy  traffic  hast  thou  increased  thy  riches, 
and  thy  heart  is  lifted  up  because  of  thy  riches.*' 
"  Therefore  behold  I  will  bring  strangers  upon  thee, 
the  terrible  of  the  nations ;  and  they  shall  draw  their 
swords  against  the  beauty  of  thy  wisdom,  and  they 
shall  defile  thy  brightness.  They  shall  bring  thee 
down  to  the  pit;  and  thou  shalt  die  the  death  of 
them  that  are  slain  in  the  heart  of  the  seas."  ^^ 

In  the  Revelation,  centuries  after,  the  Great  City 
Babylon  is  a  Queen — "  arrayed  in  purple  and  scarlet 
and  decked  with  gold  and  precious  stones  and 
pearls."  "  She  saith  in  her  heart,  I  sit  a  queen, 
and  am  no  widow,  and  shall  in  no  wise  see 
mourning."  She  was  "  drunken  with  the  blood 
of  the  saints,  and  with  the  blood  of  the  martyrs  of 
Jesus."  "  In  one  day  shall  her  plagues  come,  death, 
and  mourning,  and  famine,  and  she  shall  be  utterly 
burned  with  fire,  for  strong  is  the  Lord  God  who 
judged  her."  "  A  strong  angel  took  up  a  stone, 
as  it  were  a  great  millstone,  and  cast  it  into  the  sea, 
saying,  '  Thus  with  a  mighty  fall  shall  Babylon, 
the  Great  City,  be  cast  down,  and  shall  be  found  no 
more  at  all.*  "  ^' 

Christ,  of  whom  it  is  said — "  In  righteousness  he 
doth  judge  and  make  war,"  who  is  called  *'  Faithful 
and  True,"  comes  with  His  armies;  and  the  beast, 
on  which  the  queen  sat,  "  and  the  kings  of  the  earth 
and  their  armies  "  made  war  against  Him.  These 
enemies  of  righteousness  were  overthrown.  *'  And 
lOEzck.  28:2,  7,  8.        11  Rev.  17:4,  6;  18:7,  8,  21,  R.  V. 


WAR  165 

there  was  war  in  heaven,  Michael  and  his  Angels 
going  forth  to  war  with  the  dragon,  and  the 
dragon  warred  and  his  angels  and  they  prevailed 
not,  neither  was  their  place  found  any  more  in 
Heaven."  ^' 

Thus  in  poetic  form  do  the  prophets  of  the  Old 
Testament  and  of  the  New  alike  declare  that  a  war 
to  defend  the  oppressed  and  plundered  and  to  punish 
the  cruel  and  remorseless  oppressor  and  pirate  is 
righteous.  It  is  plainly  declared  to  be  God's  war, 
and  Christ  is  the  leader  of  the  hosts  of  justice. 

In  the  language  of  prose  St.  Paul  is  equally 
emphatic.  In  the  most  elaborate  of  all  his  letters, 
the  Epistle  to  the  Christians  in  the  metropolis  of 
Rome,  he  says  of  the  Chief  Magistrate : 

"He  is  the  minister  of  God  to  thee  for  good. 
But  if  thou  do  that  which  is  evil  be  afraid ;  for  he 
beareth  not  the  sword  in  vain ;  for  he  is  the  minister 
of  God,  a  revenger  to  execute  wrath  upon  him  that 
doeth  evil."  '' 

The  Twentieth  Century  Testament  renders  this: 

"  But  if  you  do  what  is  wrong,  you  may  well  be 
afraid ;  for  the  sword  they  carry,  is  not  without  mean- 
ing! They  are  God's  servants,  to  inflict  his  punish- 
ments on  those  who  do  wrong." 

This  renders  the  meaning  of  the  original  more 
accurately  according  to  our  use  of  words  in  this 
century,  than  does  the  King  James  version.  "  Re- 
venger," and  "  wrath,"  are  now  commonly  used  in 

12  Rev.  12:7;  19,  R.  V.  ^2  Rom.  13 : 4- 


1 66     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

a  bad  sense.  We  must  dissociate  such  words  from 
our  thought  of  God.  As  the  same  version  well 
renders  the  last  verse  of  St.  John's  first  Epistle: 
"  My  children,  guard  yourselves  against  false  ideas 
of  God."  '* 

But  in  either  version  the  thought  is  clear  that 
it  is  part  of  the  business  of  the  State  to  punish 
wrongdoers.  St.  Peter  expresses  the  same  idea  in 
his  first  Epistle.^^  The  governors  are  sent  by  the 
Emperor  "  to  punish  evildoers  and  to  commend 
those  who  do  right." 

When  therefore  an  organized  army  of  murderers 
and  robbers  burst  into  Belgium  and  northern 
France,  killed  the  people,  ravished  the  women,  de- 
stroyed the  churches  and  universities,  and  robbed 
whatever  they  could  grasp,  it  was  not  only  the  right 
but  the  duty  of  civilized  nations  to  punish  them, 
"  to  execute  justice,"  to  be  "  a  covert  from  the  face 
of  the  destroyer,"  and  consume  the  oppressors  out 
of  the  land.^^  When  this  is  accomplished  the 
prophecy  of  Isaiah  will  find  complete  fulfilment : 
"  A  throne  shall  be  established  in  lovingkindness 
and  one  shall  sit  thereon  in  truth,  in  the  tent  of 
David,  judging  and  seeking  justice  and  swift  to  do 
righteousness."  ^^ 

These  truths  are  vital.  It  is  but  a  bastard  Chris- 
tianity that  forgets  that  God  is  a  God  of  justice, 
and  that  the  Magistrates,  whatever  their  title,  are 
His  servants  and  ministers  to  see  that  justice  is 
done.     The  old  maxim  "  The  judge  is  condemned 

1*1  John  5:21.  isisa.  16:3,4,  17. 

15 1  Pet.  2 :  14.  17  Isa.  16 :  5,  R.  V. 


WAR  '  167 

when  he  acquits  the  guilty,"  ^®  is  often  forgotten, 
in  America,  to  our  shame  be  it  said.  Then  "  the 
wild  justice  of  revenge  prevails,"  and  lynching, 
blind  and  brutal,  takes  the  place  of  justice.  It  is 
the  reaction  of  the  natural  man  when  he  sees  that 
the  administration  of  the  law  is  slow  and 
uncertain. 

But  it  will  be  asked — How  do  you  reconcile  these 
propositions  with  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount?  This 
question  is  answered  by  the  application  of  the  rules 
of  construction  established  by  Courts  for  the  in- 
terpretation of  Constitution  and  law  and  ex- 
plained in  the  first  chapter.  Let  us  briefly  restate 
them. 

First,  the  rule,  if  any,  given  in  the  law  itself  is 
to  be  followed.  Second,  it  is  to  be  interpreted  as 
a  whole.  Each  part  helps  to  explain  the  rest. 
Presumptively  all  are  harmonious  when  properly 
understood.  Third,  all  statutes  relating  to  the 
same  subject  should  be  construed  together.  Fourth, 
the  circumstances  which  led  to  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution  or  to  the  delivery  of  the  address  throw 
light  upon  its  meaning. 

Christ  said  in  the  beginning  of  this  discourse: 
"  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law  or  the 
prophets;  I  am  not  come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil."  ^^ 
It  is  obvious  therefore  that  it  was  no  part  of  His 
purpose  to  disannul  the  teachings  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment on  the  subject  of  righteous  retribution  in  the 
punishment  of  crime.     And  he  added :   "  Except 

18  Judex  damnatur,  cum  nocens  absolvitur. 
i»  Matt.  5:17. 


i68     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

your  righteousness  shall  exceed  the  righteousness  of 
the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  ye  shall  in  no  wise  enter 
into  the  kingdom  of  Heaven."  ^^  How  then  shall 
Christians  in  their  study  of  the  words  of  Christ 
exceed  the  righteousness  of  these  Pharisees?  They 
were  literalists,  as  Pharisees  always  are.  They  took 
the  words  in  the  law,  as  given  in  Exodus  and 
Leviticus  ^^  which  regulated  the  judicial  punishment 
for  crime,  and  applied  them,  disregarding  the  con- 
text, to  individual  action.  "  An  eye  for  an  eye  and 
a  tooth  for  a  tooth  "  was  the  Mosaic  law  for  the 
punishment  to  be  inflicted  judicially  upon  the  of- 
fender who  injured  his  neighbour.  The  Pharisees 
would  let  him,  as  we  say,  "  take  the  law  into  his 
own  hands."  That  Christ  forbids,  and  our  law 
does  the  same.  The  Mosaic  punishment  was  primi- 
tive and  is  to  be  found  in  other  ancient  codes.^^ 
But  in  none  of  them  was  it  to  be  administered  by 
the  injured  party.  The  punishment  was  to  be  *'  as 
the  judges  determine.*'  ^^  Aloses  was  advised  by 
Jethro  to  "  provide  out  of  all  the  people,  able  men, 
such  as  fear  God,  hating  covetousness  .  .  .  and  let 
them  judge  the  people  at  all  seasons."  Moses  did 
so.^*  The  same  command  is  repeated  in  Deuteron- 
omy :  "  Judges  and  officers  shalt  thou  make  thee  in 
all  thy  gates,  which  the  Lord  thy  God  giveth, 
throughout  thy  tribes,  and  they  shall  judge  the 
people  with  just  judgment.     Thou  shalt  not  wrest 

20  Matt.  5:20. 

21  Exod.  21:24;  Lev.  24:20. 

22  As  for  example,  Code  of  Hammurabi,  Sections  i,  3,  200. 

23  Exod.  21 :  22. 
2*Exod.  18:21,  22. 


WAR  169 

judgment;  thou  shalt  not  respect  persons,  neither 
shalt  thou  take  a  gift."  ^' 

These  inspired  directions  for  choosing  judges  and 
for  their  conduct  when  chosen,  might  well  be  re- 
membered by  all  who  under  our  laws  have  the 
power  of  selection,  as  well  as  by  the  judges  them- 
selves, when  chosen.  Taken  in  connection  with  the 
other  passages  quoted  they  show  plainly  that  the 
Hebrew  law  was  not  subject  justly  to  the  literal 
interpretation  put  upon  it  by  the  Pharisees.  Here, 
as  in  so  many  other  cases,  Christ  vindicated  the  law 
and  fulfilled  it,  as  He  said. 

A  consideration  of  the  circumstances  under  which 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount  was  delivered,  and  of  the 
people  to  whom  it  was  addressed,  leads  to  the  same 
conclusion. 

The  famous  sermon  was  delivered  early  in 
Christ's  ministry.  He  had  not  come  in  touch  with 
the  Roman  government.  This  was  the  sovereign 
authority  in  Palestine.  The  Jews  retained  some 
power  of  local  self-government,  but  were  subject 
in  all  things  to  Roman  sway.  This  we  know  from 
the  historians  of  the  time.  It  plainly  appears  also 
in  the  story  of  the  crucifixion.  It  was  to  the  Roman 
governor  that  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees  went  with 
their  accusation.  It  was  not  lawful  for  their  court 
to  put  any  man  to  death.^^  So  far  as  appears  from 
the  gospels  the  only  previous  occasions  on  which 
Christ  had  come  in  contact  with  any  Roman  of- 
ficial were  the  payment  of  the  tribute  money,  and 

^5Deut.  16:18,  19.  26  John  18:31. 


I70     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

the  interview  with  the  Centurion."^  He  had  no  oc- 
casion at  this  time  to  teach  the  duties  or  rights  of 
government. 

But  He  saw  before  Him  a  muUitude  of  Hebrews 
who  had  come  to  hear  Him  and  to  be  healed.  Many 
of  them  were  poor  and  weak.  They  needed  com- 
fort and  he  gave  it.  They  belonged  to  a  nation,  one 
of  whose  besetting  sins  was  resentment  for  per- 
sonal injuries  and  revenge.  The  same  pride  of 
nationality  which  distinguished  the  Jews,  and  had 
supported  them  amid  countless  persecutions  and  suf- 
ferings, made  them  resentful.  Christ  warned  His 
hearers  against  this.  It  was  the  duty  of  His  fol- 
lowers to  love  their  enemies,  to  bless  them  that 
cursed,  and  not  curse  back.  They  were  not  person- 
ally to  resist  evil.^® 

This  teaching  of  Christ  has  at  last  prevailed  in 
great  measure  in  Christian  countries.  A  gentleman 
is  not  "  sudden  and  quick  in  quarrel  "  as  his  ances- 
tors were.  The  pacifist  spirit,  which  was  originally 
a  natural  reaction  against  the  revengeful  spirit  of 
the  time,  did  good  work,  so  far  as  individual  con- 
duct was  concerned,  but  it  never  had  any  proper  ap- 
plication to  national  justice.  It  was  always  a 
national  crime  to  oppress  the  weak,  to  slay  the  hus- 
band  and  the  father  of  unoffending  people,  to  march 
through  the  breadth  of  the  earth  to  possess  dwell- 
ing places  that  are  not  theirs ;  to  carry  the  survivors 
captive,  and  equally  a  crime  to  look  on  and  give  no 

27  Matt.  17:24-27;  8:5-13;  Luke  7:1-10. 

28  Matt.  5  :  38-47  ;  Luke  6  :  2f>-36.  David  had  set  an  example 
when  he  endured  patiently  the  cursing  of  Shimei,  and  com- 
mitted his  cause  to  God.    2  Sam.  16:  5-12. 


WAR  171 

help  when  strangers  stormed  the  cities  of 
your  brethren  and  carried  away  their  sub- 
stance.^* 

It  was  always  a  national  duty  "  to  seek  justice, 
relieve  the  oppressed,  judge  the  fatherless,  plead  for 
the  widow."  ^^  It  was  the  Lord  that  called  Cyrus  to 
do  justice  upon  the  cruel  oppressors  of  the  Jews, 
who  had  done  to  the  people  of  Palestine  what  the 
modem  Huns  have  done  to  Belgium  and  northern 
France  and  eastern  Italy  and  Serbia ;  and  what  their 
allies  the  Turks  have  done  to  the  Christians  in  Asia 
Minor  and  Syria.  This  warrior  prince  is  called  the 
"shepherd,"  the  "anointed"  of  the  Lord.  The 
great  prophet  expressly  declares  that  the  Lord  would 
go  before  Cyrus,  and  prepare  the  way  for  him, 
"  that  they  may  know  from  the  rising  of  the  sun, 
and  from  the  west,  that  there  is  none  beside  me."  ^^ 
In  our  time  also  the  words  of  the  prophet  are  ful- 
filled. We  can  sing  the  same  paean  over  the  Kaiser 
that  the  Hebrews  were  bidden  to  sing  over  the  fallen 
king  of  Babylon — "  How  hath  the  oppressor  ceased, 
the  Golden  City  ceased.  The  Lord  hath  broken  the 
staff  of  the  wicked,  and  the  sceptre  of  the  rulers. 
He  who  smote  the  people  in  wrath  with  a  continual 
stroke,  he  that  ruled  the  nations  in  anger,  is  perse- 
cuted, and  none  hindereth.  .  .  .  How  art  thou 
fallen  from  Heaven,  O  Lucifer,  son  of  the  morn- 
ing! how  art  thou  cut  down  to  the  ground,  which 
didst  weaken  the  nations."  ^^    Then  indeed  will  the 

29  Isa.  1 :  21 ;  Amos  1:6;  Oba.  10,  1 1 ;  Hab.  i :  6. 

30  Isa.  1 :  17. 

31  Isa.  44 :  27 :  45 : 1,  6. 
S2  Isa.  14 :  4,  5,  6,  12. 


172     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

whole  earth  be  at  rest  and  be  quiet,  and  the  rescued 
people  will  break  forth  into  singing.^^ 

Truly  did  Milton  say  of  the  Hebrew  prophets 
that  they  were : 

"  Men  divinely  taught  and  better  teaching 
The  solid  truths  of  civil  government, 
In  their  majestic,  unaffected  style, 
Than  all  the  oratory  of  Greece  and  Rome. 
In  them  is  plainest  taught  and  easiest  learnt 
What  makes  a  nation  happy,  and  keeps  it  so, 
What  ruins  kingdoms,  and  lays  cities  flat." 

May  I  add  that  when  this  chapter  was  first 
written  and  published  (May,  191 7)  the  sentences 
in  the  later  paragraphs  were  in  the  future  tense. 
Let  us  humbly  thank  God  that  He  gave  to  so  many 
of  His  followers  faith  in  the  triumph  of  the 
righteous  cause,  even  when  the  invaders  were  most 
triumphant,  and  darkness  wrapt  so  large  a  part  of 
the  world. 

33Isa.  14:7. 


XII 

JUSTICE  AND  MERCY 

HERE  we  have  another  instance  of  an  ap- 
parent conflict,  which  on  examination,  be- 
comes a  real  unity.  Throughout  the  Old 
Testament,  and  in  many  passages  of  the  New,  as 
has  been  shown  in  previous  chapters,  God  is  de- 
scribed as  executing  justice  upon  those  who  trans- 
gress His  law.  He  is  a  holy  and  a  just  God.  When 
Isaiah  declaims  against  the  crimes  of  the  people  in 
his  day,  and  warns  them  of  the  punishment  that 
God  will  bring,  he  declares :  "  The  Lord  of  hosts 
shall  be  exalted  in  judgment,  and  God,  that  is  holy, 
shall  be  sanctified  in  righteousness."  ^ 

When  the  later  Isaiah  has  declared  the  judgment 
that  God's  servant,  Cyrus,  is  to  execute  upon  the 
cruel  oppressors  of  His  people,  he  represents  the 
Lord  as  saying :  "  There  is  no  God  else  beside  me ; 
a  just  God  and  a  Saviour;  there  is  none  beside 
me."  ^ 

When  Zechariah  predicts  the  coming  of  the  Mes- 
siah, he  says :  "  Rejoice  greatly,  O  daughter  of 
Zion;  shout,  O  daughter  of  Jerusalem;  behold,  thy 
King  Cometh  unto  thee;  he  is  just,  and  having 
salvation."  ^ 

ilsa.  5:16.  «Isa.  45:21.  *Zech.  9:9. 

173 


174     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

The  Psalms  are  full  of  similar  expressions.  All 
mankind  and  the  whole  creation  are  called  "  to  re- 
joice before  the  Lord,  for  he  cometh  to  judge  the 
earth;  he  shall  judge  the  world  with  righteousness 
and  the  people  with  his  truth."  *  In  another  Psalm 
it  is  written :  "  The  Lord  shall  endure  forever ;  he 
hath  prepared  his  throne  for  judgment;  and  he  shall 
judge  the  world  in  righteousness,  he  shall  minister 
judgment  to  the  people  in  uprightness.  The  Lord  is 
known  by  the  judgment  which  he  executeth:  the 
wicked  is  snared  in  the  work  of  his  own  hands."  ^ 
In  another  Psalm  the  poet  praises  the  Lord  for  His 
many  gracious  and  loving  acts,  one  of  which  is  de- 
clared to  be — "  The  Lord  executeth  righteousness 
and  judgment  for  all  that  are  oppressed."  ^ 

The  New  Testament  is  equally  explicit.  Beside 
the  wonderful  description  of  the  day  of  judgment 
in  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  St.  Matthew's  Gospel, 
and  the  woes  denounced  in  the  twenty-third  chapter 
of  the  same  evangelist,  the  Book  of  Revelation  is 
full  of  poetic  description  of  the  judgments 
of  the  Almighty  upon  cruelty,  selfishness,  and 
oppression. 

This  justice  of  God  is  not  at  all  inconsistent  with 
His  mercy  and  His  love.  In  the  Psalm  already 
quoted  it  is  declared :  "  The  Lord  is  merciful  and 
gracious,  slow  to  anger,  and  plenteous  in  mercy. 
For  as  the  heaven  is  high  above  the  earth,  so  great 
is  his  mercy  toward  them  that  fear  him.     Like  as 

*  Psalm  96:  7,  12,  13. 
5  Psalm  9:7,  8,  16. 

«  Psalm  103:6.  To  the  same  effect  are  Psalm  no:  5-6; 
Psalm  III:  7-9. 


JUSTICE  AND  MERCY  175 

a  father  pitieth  his  children,  so  the  Lord  pitieth 
them  that  fear  him."  ^ 

The  later  Isaiah  cries :  "  I  will  mention  the  loving- 
kindnesses  of  the  Lord,  and  the  praises  of  the  Lord, 
according  to  all  that  the  Lord  hath  bestowed  on  us, 
and  the  great  goodness  toward  the  house  of  Israel, 
which  he  hath  bestowed  on  them  according  to  his 
mercies,  and  according  to  the  multitude  of  his  lov- 
ingkindnesses.  In  all  their  affliction  he  was  af- 
flicted, and  the  angel  of  his  presence  saved  them;  in 
his  love  and  in  his  pity  he  redeemed  them;  and  he 
bare  them ;  and  carried  them  all  the  days  of  old."  ^ 

In  the  New  Testament  St.  John  sums  it  up  in  the 
one  memorable  phrase,  "  God  is  love." 

We  must  note  the  context, — "  Beloved,  let  us  love 
one  another;  for  love  is  of  God;  and  every  one  that 
loveth,  is  born  of  God,  and  knoweth  God.  He  that 
loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God ;  for  God  is  love."  ® 

Then  the  Apostle  goes  on  to  tell  how  God's  love 
was  manifested  by  sending  His  Son  into  the  world 
that  we  might  live  through  Him.  In  the  third 
chapter  of  the  same  epistle,  he  expresses  another 
manifestation, — "  Behold,  what  manner  of  love  the 
Father  hath  bestowed  upon  us,  that  we  should  be 
called  the  sons  of  God :  therefore  the  world  knoweth 
us  not,  because  it  knew  him  not." 

Many  more  passages  might  be  cited,  but  these  suf- 
fice. The  New  Testament  writers  speak  so  fre- 
quently of  the  love  of  God  that  many  have  forgotten 
the  equally  positive  statements  that  He  is  a  just 

^  Psalm  103:8,  II,  13.  sjsa.  6^:7,  9. 

»i  John  4:7,  8. 


176     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

God.  This  oversight  is  especially  mischievous  when 
the  duty  of  the  State  to  execute  justice  is  ques- 
tioned. For  the  State  should  pattern  its  adminis- 
tration upon  the  fundamental  principles  of  divine 
government. 

One  development  of  this  one-sided  view  is  to  be 
found  in  the  agitation  for  the  abolition  of  capital 
punishment.  In  the  very  first  book  of  the  Old 
Testament,  the  command  is  given :  "  Whoso 
sheddeth  man's  blood,  by  man  shall  his  blood 
be  shed;  for  in  the  image  of  God  created  he 
man." '« 

The  opponents  of  capital  punishment  forget  this 
altogether,  and  cite  the  Sixth  Commandment, — 
'*  Thou  shalt  not  kill."  ^^  Jesus  Himself  translated 
this — "  Thou  shalt  do  no  murder,"  ^^  and  that  is 
really  what  it  means.  But  apart  from  this,  the 
context  shows  that  the  commands  were  addressed 
to  the  individual,  and  have  no  reference  to  judicial 
punishment  for  crime. 

Much  of  the  discussion  on  this  subject  has 
ignored  the  true  reason  for  judicial  punishment, 
which  is  to  prevent  crime.  The  main  object  of 
government  is  to  protect  honest,  hard-working 
people  in  the  discharge  of  their  daily  duties.  The 
State  should  enable  them  to  go  about  their  business 
in  security;  free  from  the  fear  of  assault.  If  a 
man  wilfully,  and  with  malice  aforethought,  kill 
his  neighbour,  he  shows  that  he  is  a  peril  to  the 
community.    Mercy  to  the  rest  of  men  requires  that 

»o  Gen.  9 : 6.  "  Exod.  20 :  13. 

»2  Matt.  19 :  18. 


JUSTICE  AND  MERCY  177 

he  should  be  put  to  death.  The  people  of  Colorado 
tried  the  experiment.  They  abolished  capital  punish- 
ment. Murders  were  committed.  The  murderers 
were  lynched.  At  the  next  session  of  the  legislature 
the  act  repealing  the  death  penalty  was  itself  re- 
pealed.^^  A  man  who  has  murdered  his  neighbour 
and  is  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  life  can 
murder  his  keeper  with  impunity.  The  maximum 
punishment  has  already  been  inflicted. 

A  notable  instance  of  the  failure  of  this  so-called 
reform  to  accomplish  any  good  for  the  community, 
is  to  be  found  in  the  experience  of  Russia  during 
the  present  revolution.  The  government  of  which 
Kerensky  was  the  head,  abolished  the  death  penalty. 
The  result  was  that  more  innocent  people  were  put 
to  death  by  violence  in  a  year  than  the  Imperial 
Government  had  ever  put  to  death  in  thrice  that 
time.  One  of  our  great  editorial  writers  puts  the 
case  so  clearly  that  we  cannot  forbear  to  quote  :  ^* 

"  The  World  seems  to  think  it  an  inconsistency  in 
the  Bolsheviki  that  they,  '  after  "  abolishing  the  death 
penalty,"  have  outdone  historic  record  in  murdering.* 
It  does  the  Bolsheviki  an  injustice.  In  abolishing 
the  death  penalty  they  did  not  mean  to  show  any 
fondness  for  human  life;  they  wanted  to  render  the 
taking  of  it  easy.  They  did  not  object  to  murder, 
but  to  the  penalty  for  murder.  The  objection  to  capi- 
tal punishment  among  Russian  radicals  is  not  that  it 
takes  human  life,  but  that  it  takes  it  under  the  forms 

13  Cal'ital  Punishment  and  Lynching.    J.  E,  Cutler,  pp.  182, 
185. 
i*New  York  Times,  Sept.  11,  1918. 


178     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

of  law.  Individual  killing  is  held  in  high  respect;  it 
is  the  punishment  for  that  kind  of  killing  that  is  ob- 
jected to,  and  it  is  objected  to  because  it  is  a  punish- 
ment." 

The  truth  is  that  justice  to  the  guilty  is  mercy  to 
the  innocent.  And  when  men  who  plead  for 
leniency  quote  the  promises  of  forgiveness,  they  for- 
get that  these  promises  are  conditioned  upon  re- 
pentance and  reformation.  Nowhere  is  this  more 
explicit  than  in  the  first  chapter  of  Isaiah.  That 
great  prophet  declares  that  the  worship  of  Judah 
and  Jerusalem  is  odious  to  the  Lord.  He  will  not 
hear  their  prayers  because  their  hands  are  full  of 
blood.  The  people  must  "  cease  to  do  evil,"  and 
"  learn  to  do  well  " ;  they  must  "  seek  judgment, 
relieve  the  oppressed,  judge  the  fatherless,  plead  for 
the  widow."  Then  their  scarlet  sins  shall  be  "  as 
white  as  snow." 

So  in  the  gospel,  Christ  bids  us  forgive  the  erring 
brother,  "  if  he  repent."  ^^  The  Christian  should 
never  bear  malice  or  cherish  hatred,  but  he  is  not 
required  to  restore  the  unrepentant  offender  to  fel- 
lowship. It  was  when  the  prodigal  son  forsook 
the  company  of  harlots  and  confessed  his  sin,  that 
the  father  lovingly  welcomed  him,  as  one  that  was 
alive  from  the  dead.^*'  To  think  that  there  should 
be  no  punishment  for  unrepented  sin,  is  to  ignore 
the  distinction,  eternal  as  the  heavens,  between  good 
and  evil.  Kind-hearted  people  often  forget  the 
warning, — "  He  that  justifieth  the  wicked,  and  he 

15  Luke  17:3,  4.  16  Luke  15:11-32. 


JUSTICE  AND  MERCY  179 

that  condemneth  the  just,  even  they  both  are  abomi- 
nation to  the  Lord."  ^^ 

If  it  be  asked  why  the  State  should  inflict  punish- 
ment upon  a  criminal  who  confesses  his  crime  and 
declares  that  he  has  repented,  we  reply : 

The  officials  of  the  State  cannot  know  whether  his 
repentance  is  sincere.  God  alone  can  judge  of  that; 
and  the  offender  in  such  a  case  may  well  be  left  in 
His  merciful  hands. 

But  again,  even  the  divine  mercy  does  not  always 
remit  all  the  penalties  of  sin.  For  example,  a  man 
who  has  ruined  his  health  by  riotous  living,  may 
repent  and  reform,  and  have  peace  in  his  heart.  But 
the  bodily  vigour  may  be  gone,  never  to  be  restored. 

So  there  often  are  cases  where  justice  requires 
that  the  law  should  have  its  course,  by  the  infliction 
of  the  penalties  of  crime  declared  by  law,  and  pro- 
nounced by  the  judge,  after  an  impartial  trial,  and 
after  all  mitigating  circumstances  have  been  con- 
sidered ;  even  though  the  offender  confess  his  fault 
and  declare  his  penitence. 
I'Prov.  17: 15. 


XIII 
JUDICIAL  PROCEEDINGS 

WE  have  already  spoken  of  the  quaHfications, 
which  the  Hebrew  law  required  of  the 
judges.  But  there  is  need  to  develop  this 
topic  farther,  because  of  the  misunderstanding  of 
some  passages  of  the  New  Testament. 

The  greatest  dignity  is  attached  to  judicial  office. 
God  Himself  is  "the  judge  of  all  the  earth."  ^ 
The  cause  of  the  widow  and  the  fatherless  is  His 
cause  and  He  will  punish  those  that  afflict  them.  "  I 
will  surely  hear  their  cry."  ^  "  Justice  and  judg- 
ment are  the  habitation  of  thy  throne."  ^  The 
w^ord  which  is  sometimes  used  to  designate  God 
Himself  is  sometimes  also  applied  to  the  judges. 
In  Exodus  the  command  is  rendered — "  Thou  shalt 
not  revile  God."  *  The  marginal  reading  is — the 
judges.  Christ  refers  to  this  in  His  discussion  v/ith 
the  Jews  after  He  had  told  the  parable  of  the  Good 
Shepherd.  Quoting  the  Psalm  of  Asaph  in  which 
he  warns  the  judges  of  his  time,^  Christ  said — "  Is 
it  not  written  in  your  law — '  I  said,  ye  are  Gods.'  "  * 

Into  this  divine  office,  the  great  Hebrew  law-giver 
entered.    He  sat  to  judge  the  people  from  morning 

1  Gen.   i8 :  25.  *  Exod.  22  :  28. 

2  Exod.  22  :  22,  23.  ^  Psalm  82. 

3  Psalm  89 :  14.  «  John   10 ;  34. 

180 


JUDICIAL  PROCEEDINGS  i8i 

until  evening.  When  they  had  a  matter  in  differ- 
ence they  came  to  him,  and  he  made  them  to  know 
the  statutes  of  God,  and  His  laws/  When  by  the 
advice  of  Jethro  he  appointed  junior  judges,  he  still 
continued  to  be  what  would  in  England  be  called 
Lord  High  Chancellor.  Every  great  matter  they 
brought  to  him.*  His  charge  to  them  should  be 
studied  by  judges  in  every  land. 

"  I  charged  your  judges  at  that  time,  saying, 
Hear  the  causes  between  your  brethren  and  judge 
righteously  between  a  man  and  his  brother  and  the 
sojourner  that  is  with  him.  Ye  shall  not  respect 
persons  in  judgment;  ye  shall  hear  the  small  and 
the  great  alike;  ye  shall  not  be  afraid  of  the  face 
of  man,  for  the  judgment  is  God's."  ^ 

When  the  Israelites  decided  to  have  a  king,  the 
sovereign  succeeded  to  this  judicial  office.  When 
Solomon  built  his  royal  palace,  he  provided  a  porch 
and  a  judgment  seat,  where  he  himself  heard  causes 
and  delivered  judgments.^'*  Before  this  was  built, 
however,  he  acted  as  Chief  Justice,  and  delivered 
his  one  recorded  decision  in  the  famous  controversy 
between  the  two  mothers  concerning  the  ownership 
of  the  surviving  infant.  "  And  all  Israel  heard  of 
the  judgment  which  the  king  had  judged ;  and  they 
feared  the  king,  for  they  saw  that  the  wisdom  of 
God  was  in  him  to  do  judgment."  " 


7Exod.  18:15,  16. 

8  Exod.  18:26. 

9  Dent.  1 :  14,  R,  V. 
i**  I  Kings  7 :  7. 

11 1  Kings  3:  16-28.    This  judgment  was  a  frequent  subject 
for  sculptors  and  painters  in  the  Middle  Ages. 


i82      A  LAWYER^S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

All  through  the  Old  Testament,  the  dignity  and 
importance  of  this  judicial  function  are  emphasized. 
"  A  king  that  sitteth  in  the  throne  of  judgment, 
scattereth  away  all  evil  with  his  eyes."  "  To  do 
justice  and  judgment  is  more  acceptable  to  the  Lord 
than  sacrifice."  ^"  It  is  a  just  boast  of  the  Hebrews 
that  in  the  days  of  their  monarchy  the  humblest 
Jew  could  claim  justice  from  the  sovereign.  In 
the  evil  days  of  Jehoiakim,  the  son  of  Josiah,  the 
prophet  said  of  his  royal  father :  "  He  judged  the 
cause  of  the  poor  and  needy;  then  it  was  well  with 
him;  was  not  this  to  know  me,  saith  the  Lord. 
But  thine  eyes  and  thine  heart  are  not  but  for  thy 
covetousness,  and  for  to  shed  innocent  blood,  and 
for  oppression  and  violence  to  do  it."  Therefore 
the  Lord  would  judge  him,  and  he  would  die  a 
shameful  death.^^  In  the  same  philippic  the  fearless 
Jeremiah  told  the  king  and  his  servants:  "  Execute 
ye  judgment  and  righteousness,  and  deliver  the 
spoiled  out  of  the  hand  of  the  oppressor,  and  do 
no  wrong,  do  no  violence  to  the  stranger,  the  father- 
less, nor  the  widow,  neither  shed  innocent  blood  in 
this  place."  " 

The  judgment  was  given  after  hearing  both  par- 
ties. Nicodemus  who  was  a  judge  himself  in  the 
Jewish  Sanhedrin  declared :  "  Doth  our  law  judge 
any  man  before  it  hear  him  and  know  what  he 
doeth  ?  "  ^^  Two  witnesses  against  the  accused  were 
required  for  conviction,  in  criminal  cases.^^  And 
provision  was  made  for  a  review  at  Jerusalem  in 

12  Prov.  22 :  8 ;  23  :  3.        i^Jer.  22:3.  i^Dgut.   19:15. 

13  Jer.  22 :  16-19.  ^^  John  7 :  51. 


JUDICIAL  PROCEEDINGS  183 

difficult  cases.  The  decision  there  was  final  and 
refusal  to  submit  to  it  was  a  capital  offence.^^ 

In  these  judicial  proceedings  the  witnesses  were 
sworn,  and  in  the  form  of  oath  appealed  to  the  name 
of  God.  False  swearing  was  a  heinous  crime.^*  In 
a  criminal  case  the  witness  who  swore  falsely 
against  the  accused  was  punished  with  the  same 
punishment  as  that  of  the  crime  of  which  he  ac- 
cused the  innocent.^^ 

With  all  this  great  body  of  inspired  teaching  there 
came  in  time  to  be  blended  a  mass  of  tradition  re- 
specting vows,  which  also  were  sometimes  confirmed 
by  an  oath.  Such  was  that  of  Jephthah  to  offer  in 
sacrifice  "  whatsoever  cometh  forth  from  the  doors 
of  my  house  to  meet  me."  ^^  These  again  became 
the  subject  of  technical  distinctions.  Some  were 
held  binding,  some  w^ere  not.  In  Christ's  final 
philippic  against  the  Pharisees,  He  refers  to  these 
quibbles.  "  Whosoever  shall  swear  by  the  temple, 
it  is  nothing;  but  whosoever  shall  swear  by  the  gold 
of  the  temple,  he  is  bound  by  his  oath.  .  .  .  Who- 
soever shall  swear  by  the  altar  it  is  nothing,  but 
whosoever  shall  swear  by  the  gift  that  is  upon  it, 
he  is  bound  by  his  oath."  ^^ 

It  was  with  reference  to  such  oaths,  as  well  as  to 
profane  swearing,  in  violation  of  the  Third  Com- 
mandment, that  Christ  said  in  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount :  *'  Swear  not  at  all.  .  .  .  But  let  your  speech 

"Deut.  17:8-13. 

18  Jer.  7:8;  Zech.  5:4;  Mai.  3 :  5- 

19  Deut.  19 :  16-21. 
2ojudg.  11:31. 

21  Matt.  23:16,  17,  R.  V. 


i84      A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

be,  Yea,  yea;  nay,  nay;  and  whatsoever  is  more  than 
these,  is  of  the  evil  one."  ^-  To  suppose  that  in  the 
same  address  in  which  He  said  that  He  came  not  to 
destroy  the  law  or  the  prophets,  He  gave  a  command 
which  would  subvert  the  sanction  of  sworn  testi- 
mony on  which  rested  the  Jewish  administration  of 
law,  is  really  absurd.  The  words  He  did  use  have 
their  full  application  without  putting  any  such  un- 
reasonable construction  upon  them.  This  is  made 
more  clear  by  the  passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews  in  which  God  Himself  is  described  as  tak- 
ing an  oath.  "  Since  he  could  swear  by  no  greater, 
he  sware  by  himself.'*  "For  men  sw^ear  by  the 
greater  and  in  every  dispute  of  theirs  the  oath  is 
final  for  confirmation."  "  It  is  evident  that  the 
inspired  author  of  this  epistle  did  not  under- 
stand the  words  of  Christ  as  referring  to  judicial 
oaths. 

Again,  in  the  Book  of  Revelation,  we  are  told 
that  the  souls  of  those  who  had  been  slain  for  the 
word  of  God,  and  for  their  loyalty  to  it  had  cried 
with  a  great  voice  (as  we  may  imagine  the  souls 
of  those  who  have  been  slain  by  the  Huns  in  this 
present  war,  for  defending  their  homes  and  the  cause 
of  righteousness,  are  crying  now)  :  "  How  long,  O 
Master,  the  holy  and  true,  dost  thou  not  judge  and 
avenge  our  blood  ? "  Then  soon  a  strong  angel 
came  down  from  heaven,  "  and  lifted  up  his  right 
hand  to  heaven,  and  swore  by  him  who  liveth  for- 
ever and  ever   .    .    .   that  there  shall  be  delay  no 

22  Matt.  5:34.  37,  R.  V. 
23Heb.  6:13,  16,  R.  V. 


JUDICIAL  PROCEEDINGS  185 

longer."  ^*     What   God   did,   what  the  angel   did, 
certainly  is  right  for  man  to  do ! 

Yet  by  one  of  those  curious  literalisms  that  have 
so  often  led  good  people  astray,  we  read  of  an  Eng- 
lish judge,  an  upright,  learned  and  useful  man,  who 
took  our  Lord's  words — ''  Swear  not  at  all  " — to  be 
applicable  to  judicial  oaths,  and  resigned  his  high 
ofiFice  because  his  conscience  forbade  the  adminis- 
tration of  an  oath  to  witnesses  in  his  court.  We 
admire  his  sense  of  duty,  but  regret  his  perversity  of 
judgment.  In  other  matters,  he  was  a  just  judge, 
but  here  he  went  astray. 

2*  Rev.  6:9,  10 ;  10 : 1-6,  R.  V. 


XIV 
LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES 

WE  have  in  the  eleventh  chapter  shown  that 
the  teachings  of  Christ  in  His  Sermon  on 
the  Mount  are  not  inconsistent  with  the 
action  of  a  government  in  forcibly  maintaining  the 
rights  of  the  people  against  aggressive  attack  and 
in  defending  them  and  their  property  from  unjust 
invasion.  But  it  is  equally  clear  that  the  words  of 
Christ  forbid  what  has  sometimes  been  called  pri- 
vate war — that  is  to  say  the  attempt  of  a  private 
person  to  obtain  by  violence  what  he  considers  to  be 
his  rights  and  to  punish  by  his  own  action  personal 
affronts  or  individual  injuries.  Christ  expressly 
said :  "  Therefore  when  presenting  your  gift  at  the 
altar,  if  even  there  you  remember  that  your  brother 
has  some  grievance  against  you,  leave  your  gift 
there  before  the  altar,  go  and  be  reconciled  to  your 
brother  first,  then  come  and  present  your  gift.  Be 
ready  to  make  friends  with  your  opponent,  even 
when  you  meet  him  on  the  way  to  the  Court."  ^ 

The  same  principle  of  action  is  expressed  graphi- 
cally by  St.  James :  "  Who  among  you  claims  to  be 
wise  and  intelligent?  Let  him  show  that  his  actions 
are  the  outcome  of  a  good  life  lived  in  the  humility 

iMatt.  5:24,  25.    "Twentieth  Century  Testament." 
186 


LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES      187 

of  true  wisdom.  But,  while  you  harbour  envy  and 
bitterness  and  a  spirit  of  rivalry  in  your  hearts,  do 
not  boast  or  lie  to  the  detriment  of  the  Truth.  That 
is  not  the  wisdom  which  comes  from  above;  no,  it 
is  earthly,  animal,  devilish.  For,  where  envy  and 
rivalry  exist,  there  you  will  also  find  disorder  and 
all  kinds  of  base  actions.  But  the  wisdom  from 
above  is,  before  everything  else,  pure;  then  peace- 
loving,  gentle,  open  to  conviction,  rich  in  compas- 
sion and  good  deeds,  and  free  from  partiality  and 
insincerity.  And  righteousness,  its  fruit,  is  sown 
in  peace  by  those  who  work  for  peace.  .  .  .  What 
is  the  cause  of  the  fighting  and  quarrelling  that  goes 
on  among  you  ?  Is  not  it  to  be  found  in  the  desires 
which  are  always  at  war  within  you?  You  crave, 
yet  do  not  obtain.  You  murder  and  rage,  yet  can- 
not gain  your  end.  You  quarrel  and  fight.  You 
do  not  obtain,  because  you  do  not  ask.  You  ask, 
yet  do  not  receive,  because  you  ask  for  a  wrong  pur- 
pose— to  spend  what  you  get  upon  your  pleasures."  ^ 

Be  it  remembered  that  this  is  the  same  Apostle 
who  condemns  in  no  measured  terms  the  arrogance 
and  greed  of  the  rich  men  of  his  day.^ 

To  me  the  most  wonderful  characteristic  of  the 
Bible  is  its  fairness  and  impartiality.  Where  can  a 
book  be  found  that  holds  the  scales  of  justice  with 
such  even  hand?  The  emphasis  that  it  lays  upon 
this  divine  quality  has  been  dealt  with  in  the  thir- 
teenth chapter.  The  real  nature  of  the  divine  jus- 
tice is  obscured  by  the  unfortunate  use  of  the  word 
"  vengeance,"  in  modern  translations,  as  applied  to 

2  James  3 :  13-18 ;  4 : 1-3.    Ibid.  3  Jhid  5 :  i-5. 


i88     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

God's  retributive  justice.  It  originally  meant,  as  it 
is  defined  in  the  Century  dictionary,  "  Punishment 
inflicted  in  return  for  an  injury  or  an  offence."  But 
in  ordinary  modern  use,  it  implies  anger  and  re- 
venge. These  are  not  divine  attributes — Justice  is. 
The  translation  would  convey  a  more  accurate  idea 
of  St.  Paul's  meaning  if  it  read :  "  Retribution  is 
mine,  I  will  recompense,  saith  the  Lord."  *  The 
Apostle  adds  and  makes  his  meaning  clear :  ''  Be  not 
overcome  of  evil,  but  overcome  evil  with  good." 

Let  us  not  therefore  in  our  dealings  with  our 
fellow-men  permit  the  spirit  of  revenge  for  real  or 
fancied  injustice  to  control  our  actions.  The  Old 
Testament  lends  no  countenance  to  the  revengeful 
spirit. 

Moses  commanded  the  Jews :  "  Thou  shalt  not 
avenge,  nor  bear  any  grudge  against  the  children  of 
thy  people,  but  thou  shalt  love  thy  neighbour  as 
thyself :  I  am  the  Lord."  ^  Thus  to  human  love  and 
friendliness  he  gave  divine  sanction. 

It  may  be  said  that  this  command  applied  only  to 
the  conduct  of  the  Jews  to  one  another.  But  Christ 
gave  it  a  far  wider  scope.  When  He  was  asked  by 
the  Jewish  lawyer  what  he  should  do  to  inherit  eter- 
nal life,  Christ  answered:  "Thou  shalt  love  the 
Lord  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy 
soul  and  with  all  thy  strength  and  with  all  thy  mind, 
and  thy  neighbour  as  thyself."  ^ 

4  Rom.  12:19.  Translated  in  "Twentieth  Century  Testa- 
ment" — "It  is  for  me  to  avenge;  I  will  requite,  saith  the 
Lord." 

5  Lev.  19:  18. 

^5  Luke  10:27.  There  is  a  similar  answer  at  another  time. 
Matt.  22:34-40;   Mark  12:  28-34. 


LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES      189 

When  the  questioner,  "  willing  to  justify  him- 
self," asked :  Who  is  my  neighbour — ^Jesus  taught  in 
the  parable  ^  of  the  good  Samaritan  that  he  was  any 
man,  even  though  belonging  to  an  unfriendly  nation, 
to  whom  he  could  do  good.  "  Go  and  do  thou  like- 
wise,'* is  Christ's  command. 

When  Christ  and  the  glad  tidings  that  He  taught 
began  to  be  preached  throughout  the  Roman  Em- 
pire, and  communities  of  believers  were  formed  in 
its  great  cities,  St.  Paul,  who  occupied  much  the 
same  position  among  the  Gentiles  in  the  early 
Church,  that  Moses  did  in  the  Jewish  nation,  taught 
the  communities  of  his  time  how  to  apply  these 
fundamental  rules  of  conduct  in  their  dealings  with 
each  other  and  with  unbelievers.  His  conception 
of  society  was  that  of  a  body.  Every  member  had 
its  part  to  play  with  its  own  proper  function.  These 
functions  were  different.  Some  were  inferior  to 
others,  but  all  were  necessary,  and  every  member 
was  to  treat  the  others  with  consideration  and 
respect. 

Christ  was  the  divine  leader,  the  great  example, 
the  head,  and  every  member  was  to  discharge  its 
function  with  reference  to  Christ  and  His  approval. 
All  this  is  very  clearly  taught  in  the  letter  to  the 
Church  in  the  rich  commercial  city  of  Corinth.^ 
When  He  has  stated  the  ideal  organization  of  so- 
ciety. He  does  not  object  to  saying:  "Covet  ear- 
nestly the  best  gifts:  and  yet  show  I  unto  you  a 
more  excellent  way." 

^Luke  10:29-37. 

8  I  Cor.  12 :  12-27.    Also  Epistle  to  Romans  12 : 3-8. 


I90      A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

Then  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  He  gives  us  the 
wonderful  eulogy  of  love  and  its  manifestations, 
correcting  with  prophetic  instinct  the  excessive  zeal 
which  has  so  often  disfigured  the  conduct  of  Chris- 
tian believers  and  alienated  them  from  their  neigh- 
bours. No  religious  teacher  was  ever  more  free 
from  bigotry  than  St.  Paul,  and  none  ever  perceived 
more  clearly  the  normal  development  of  character. 

The  spiritual  as  well  as  the  intellectual  life  of 
man  grows  from  childhood  to  manhood.  He  sees 
imperfectly  for  a  time,  but  in  the  end  will  know 
the  truth  more  fully.  St.  Paul  does  not  hesitate  to 
say,  Man  will  know,  even  as  he  is  known  of  God. 

But  St.  Paul  does  not  content  himself  with  laying 
down  general  principles  of  conduct.  These  are  of 
vital  importance,  but  it  is  necessary  also  to  point  out 
to  man  the  application  of  these  principles.  This  St. 
Paul  did  especially  in  his  letter  to  the  Ephesians. 
Ephesus  was  also  a  rich  and  prosperous  commercial 
city. 

In  his  letter  to  the  Colossians  also  he  again  deals 
with  the  relation  between  employer  and  employed. 
We  must  not  be  misled  by  the  use  of  the  words — 
master  and  servant — in  this  and  other  writings  of 
St.  Paul,  and  think  that  the  commands  as  to  the 
duty  of  those  occupying  these  positions  are  not  ap- 
plicable to  every  employer  and  to  every  workman. 
That  would  be  to  violate  the  first  rule  of  construc- 
tion stated  in  the  first  chapter  and  to  deal  with 
words  literally  when  they  should  be  understood  in 
their  full  spiritual  meaning. 

.There  were  few  great  corporations  in  the  days 


LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES      191 

of  St.  Paul.  Machinery  was  little  used.  The  in- 
genious inventions  of  modern  times  were  unknown. 
The  workmen  were  mostly  slaves.  Herbert  Spencer 
expresses  the  opinion  that  this  "  discipline  of 
slavery  "  was  necessary  to  the  evolution  of  human- 
ity. At  any  rate  it  was  considered  for  centuries  as 
a  normal  relation,  and  we  know  from  contempo- 
raneous history  that  the  slaves  were  often  treated 
with  great  consideration,  and  if  they  had  ability 
were  promoted  to  posts  of  dignity  and  responsi- 
bility. When  these  posts  were  attained  they  were 
often  made  free.  In  any  case  the  relation  between 
the  master  and  the  servant  was  one  of  mutual  as- 
sistance and  helpfulness. 

In  our  time  slavery  has  been  abolished,  but  men 
are  just  as  dependent  upon  each  other  as  they  were 
when  it  existed.  The  fact  that  it  has  been  found 
profitable  and  advantageous  to  use  machinery  in 
many  ways  which  were  formerly  unknown,  and  to 
replace  hand  labour  by  the  work  of  machines,  not 
only  in  the  weaving  of  cloth  and  the  making  of 
garments,  but  in  the  preparation  of  food,  the  sowing 
of  seed,  the  cultivation  of  the  land,  and  the  reaping 
of  the  harvests,  does  not  change  the  essential  prin- 
ciples of  right  and  wrong,  w^hich  should  govern  the 
relation  existing  between  man  and  man.  And  we 
find  briefly  stated  in  these  letters  of  St.  Paul  the 
code  which  should  govern  the  conduct  of  both 
parties  to  every  agreement  for  any  kind  of  service. 
The  employee  is  to  do  his  work  heartily,  not  with 
eye  service,  but  in  singleness  of  heart,  as  unto  the 
Lord,  and  not  unto  man ;  remembering  that  his  serv- 


192     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

ice  is  really  rendered  to  the  Lord  Christ.  The  em- 
ployers are  to  remember  that  God  is  no  "  respecter 
of  persons  ** ;  that  they  must  render  unto  their  em- 
ployees "  that  which  is  just  and  equal,  knowing  that 
they  also  have  a  Master  in  Heaven."  ^ 

When  the  code  of  Christian  morality  thus  briefly 
stated  by  the  great  Apostle  is  applied  to  our  time,  it 
follows  that  the  employer  should  treat  his  workmen 
w^ith  respect  and  consideration,  remembering  that 
their  work  is  just  as  important  to  the  success  of  his 
business  as  his  directing  skill.  He  is  to  pay  them 
fair  wages  and  pay  punctually.  He  is  to  provide 
suitable  places  to  work,  and  machinery  equipped 
with  every  approved  device  to  avoid  danger  in  the 
work.  He  is  to  be  Interested  in  the  provision  of 
suitable  dwellings,  and  in  short  give  to  his  men 
every  reasonable  and  fair  opportunity  for  doing 
their  work  well,  with  safety  to  body  and  opportunity 
for  development.  On  the  other  hand  the  employees 
owe  a  corresponding  duty.  St.  Paul  emphasizes 
both. 

The  leader  of  one  of  the  labour  unions  stated  at 
the  Episcopal  Convention  at  Cincinnati  in  1910,  that 
the  object  of  unions  was  the  maximum  of  wages 
and  the  minimum  of  work.  That  certainly  is  an 
unchristian  doctrine.  St.  Paul  teaches  that  the 
workman's  work  is  to  be  done  heartily  as  unto  the 
Lord,  and  that  this  command  has  a  divine  sanction. 
We  cannot  imagine  for  a  moment  that  when  Christ 
worked  in  the  carpenter's  shop  in  Nazareth,  He  did 
anything  but  the  best  work,  and  did  it  cheerfully 
»Eph.  6:5-9;  Col.  3:22-2$;  4:1. 


LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES      193 

and  gladly.  He  is  the  example  for  all  workmen  in 
every  age. 

In  short  the  whole  spirit  of  Christ  and  His 
apostles  is  that  the  various  members  of  society  are 
dependent  upon  each  other,  and  should  be  friends 
and  brothers;  each  mindful  of  the  welfare  of  the 
others,  and  avoiding  that  greed  which  thinks  only 
of  itself. 

That  also  is  the  true  American  spirit ;  the  funda- 
mental principle  of  American  democracy.  One  of 
the  great  labour  leaders,  Samuel  Gompers,  president 
of  the  American  Federation  of  Labour,  whose  pa- 
triotism and  wisdom  during  the  world  war  we 
cannot  admire  too  much,  has  thus  expressed  his  con- 
ception of  this  democratic  principle  : 

"  I  believe  in  democracy,  in  justice,  in  fair  dealing, 
and  in  opportunity  for  the  development  of  a  social 
conscience  making  for  social  justice  and  the  attain- 
ment of  the  best  conditions  consistent  with  the  intel- 
lectual development  of  the  people  of  our  country." 

We  would  add  to  this  statement  after  the  word 
*'  intellectual,"  the  words  "  moral  and  spiritual." 
The  development  of  the  intellect  is  far  from  being 
sufficient.  Some  of  the  most  wicked  and  cruel  of 
men  have  had  their  intellects  developed  to  a  very 
high  degree.  But  if  we  add  these  words  this  state- 
ment is  admirable,  providing  always  that  it  is  under- 
stood to  be  comprehensive.  The  criticism  that  may 
justly  be  passed  upon  many  of  the  declarations  of 
so-called  labour  parties  is  that  they  ignore  the  duty 
of  workmen  and  demand  what  they  claim  to  be 


194     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

their  rights,  without  reference  to  the  corresponding 
obligations  that  are  involved  in  all  rights.  It  is  not 
perhaps  surprising  that  these  one-sided  claims 
should  be  put  forward.  It  is  unfortunately  true 
that  the  teachings  of  Christ  and  St.  Paul,  to  which 
reference  has  been  had,  have  been  often  ignored  by- 
professing  Christians.  Men  have  found  it  much 
easier  to  pay  outward  reverence  to  their  Lord,  to 
build  beautiful  churches,  and  sing  hymns  of  praise, 
than  to  obey  His  commands  in  their  dealings  with 
their  fellow-men.  The  more  we  study  the  history  of 
mankind  since  the  coming  of  Christ,  the  more  w^e 
realize  this  sad  truth.  Yet  we  must  remember  with 
gratitude  that  there  has  been  wonderful  develop- 
ment and  consequent  progress. 

Under  the  feudal  system  there  were  many  organi- 
zations with  dukes  and  barons  at  the  top.  The 
vassals  of  each  of  these  chieftains  were  subject  to 
their  lord's  commands,  and  the  organizations  were 
at  war  half  the  time.  These  wars  destroyed  life 
and  the  property  which  is  essential  to  life,  and  their 
continuance  became  inconsistent  with  civilization. 
Gradually  the  rights  of  the  vassals  were  recognized 
and  protected  by  governments  and  by  courts  of 
justice.  The  private  wars  which  had  desolated 
Europe  were  prohibited.  Through  the  operation 
of  the  same  civilizing  spirit,  which  is  really  the 
divine  spirit,  that  species  of  private  war  between  in- 
dividuals which  we  call  duelling  was  gradually  abol- 
ished. Even  in  the  nineteenth  century  it  prevailed 
in  some  States  of  this  Union,  was  common  on  the 
Continent  of  Europe,  and  not  infrequent  in  Eng- 


LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES      195 

land.  This  is  now  prohibited,  and  individuals  are 
compelled  to  submit  their  differences  to  the  decision 
of  courts  of  justice.  The  most  sacred  rights  and 
relations,  those  of  husband  and  wife,  of  parent  and 
child,  come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  our  courts.  It 
is  not  only  matters  of  contract  they  deal  with,  but 
private  wrongs  and  offences  against  the  common- 
wealth. The  result  of  the  security  which  this  sys- 
tem gives  to  the  individual  is  a  great  increase  in 
comfort  and  in  happiness.  The  honest,  hard-work- 
ing man  who  has  saved  a  little  money  is  not  now 
obliged  to  hide  it  lest  he  be  seized  by  some  one 
stronger  than  he.  He  is  not  a  mere  "  cog  in  the 
wheel,'*  but  a  citizen  of  the  Republic. 

All  this  is  the  fruit  of  Christianity.  To  use  the 
words  of  a  wise  and  public-spirited  citizen,  Francis 
Lynde  Stetson : 

"  Today's  moral  uprising  and  insistence  upon  a 
broader  and  deeper  sense  of  association  obligation 
may  seem  to  be  wholly  of  our  time,  but  in  truth  they 
are  the  fruition  of  the  seed  sown  by  Jesus  Christ. 
Love,  not  hate  is  the  universal  solvent." 

This  principle  is  fundamental  in  true  democracy. 
American  constitutions  limit  the  powers  of  the 
agents  whom  the  people  elect,  and  the  courts  of 
justice  have  authority  to  decide  whether  these 
agents  of  the  people  transcend  the  authority  dele- 
gated to  them.  The  freedom  that  has  been  secured 
by  the  protection  thus  given  to  the  individual  from 
violence  and  fraud,  has  resulted  in  the  growth  of 
great  organizations.     In  one  form  we  call  them 


196     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

corporations.  In  another,  we  call  them  labour 
unions.  As  the  corporations  became  powerful  their 
presidents  and  directors  realized  their  power.  They 
were  human,  liable  to  err,  and  they  did  sometimes 
err.  They  realized  that  they  were  doing  great 
things  for  the  prosperity  of  the  country.  What 
would  New  York  or  Chicago,  for  example,  be,  with- 
out the  lines  of  railroad  that  bring  to  them  the 
treasures  of  the  continent?  But  the  sense  of  power 
was  not  always  accompanied  by  a  sense  of  respon- 
sibility. The  human  nature  which  found  expression 
in  the  feudal  system  again  showed  itself.  The  story 
is  that  a  president  of  one  of  these  great  corpora- 
tions, when  reminded  of  his  duty  to  the  public, 
replied :  "  The  public  be  damned."  He  may  not 
have  said  it,  but  he  sometimes  acted  as  if  he  felt 
so.  These  human  errors  of  pride  and  power  have 
been  checked  by  the  people.  Commissions  have  been 
appointed  not  only  in  the  Federal  system  but  in  most 
of  the  States,  to  whom  is  delegated  great  power  to 
regulate  the  conditions  of  railway,  telegraph,  and 
telephone  administration  and  to  compel  obedience. 
It  is  the  duty  of  the  officers  of  public  service  com- 
panies to  give  the  public  continuous  service.  It  is 
argued  that  they  might  strike  and  resign  in  a  body. 
This  they  never  have  done,  but  if  they  were  to  do 
so,  it  would  be  an  illegal  act  and  they  would  be 
liable  in  damages  for  the  conspiracy.  In  that  case 
the  State  would  step  in,  appoint  a  receiver  and 
manage  the  road.  The  remedy  there  is  complete 
already. 

But  no  efficient  and  permanent  remedial  system 


'  LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES      i^y 

has  yet  been  provided  in  the  United  States  for  con- 
certed refusal  by  employees  to  perform  the  duties 
which  they  have  undertaken.  Labour  unions, 
through  their  most  distinguished  representatives, 
have  asserted  their  absolute  right  to  give  up,  as 
a  body,  the  duties  they  voluntarily  assumed,  and 
to  inflict  upon  the  people  of  the  country  the  suf- 
fering which  is  caused  by  a  general  strike,  whether 
on  railroad,  telephone,  telegraph  systems  or  in 
mines.  This  legal  right  they  have  frequently  exer- 
cised and  caused  untold  suffering. 

Some  of  these  organizations  have  great  wealth. 
It  was  asserted,  and  not  denied,  that  the  railroad 
brotherhoods  who  ordered  a  strike  in  August,  191 6, 
had  a  million  dollars  in  their  treasury;  had  property 
amounting  to  fifteen  millions  more,  and  an  income 
annually  of  not  less  than  four  million  dollars. 
While  corporations  generally  are  required  to  make 
sworn  returns  of  their  receipts  and  expenses,  and 
are  accountable  for  these  not  only  to  their  stock- 
holders but  to  the  public,  there  is  no  such  require- 
ment placed  upon  the  tmions.  Their  discipline  is 
extraordinary.  Mr.  Beaver,  the  Receiver  of  the 
Second  Avenue  Railroad,  gave  in  191 7  a  remarkable 
instance  of  this.  He  said  the  men  in  his  employ 
were  paid  the  highest  wages,  had  no  grievance  what- 
ever, promised  him  faithfully  they  would  not  strike, 
assured  him  of  their  loyalty,  yet,  in  obedience  to 
orders  from  some  leader,  not  named,  not  an  em- 
ployee of  the  Receiver,  they  quit  work  in  a  body  on 
less  than  six  hours'  notice.  The  chiefs  of  these 
great    labour    unions    should    seriously    consider 


198     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

whether  it  is  possible  for  society  permanently  to 
tolerate  this  condition,  and  whether  they  can  justify 
the  position,  that  they  should  claim  the  right  and 
power  of  the  old  robber  barons,  uncontrolled  by 
law. 

Both  employers  and  employed  should  welcome 
any  reasonable  and  well  considered  plan  which 
would  put  an  end  to  these  domestic  wars  and  pro- 
vide an  impartial  tribunal  with  power  to  hear  and 
to  decide  controversies  between  them.  The  plan  for 
industrial  arbitration  which  was  in  general  pre- 
sented to  Congress  by  President  Wilson  in  191 6  at 
the  time  of  the  impending  and  threatened  railway 
strike  and  was  afterwards  embodied  in  bills  intro- 
duced in  that  body  in  December  of  that  year,  and  in 
another  bill  presented  in  February,  19 17,  to  the 
Legislature  of  New  Yoi*!c  and  considered  by  the 
Public  Service  Commission  of  that  State,  recog- 
nizes the  liberty  of  railroad  companies  and  their 
men  to  make  voluntary  agreements,  and  the  binding 
force  of  these  agreements.  The  men  retain  their 
right  to  organize  and  make  collective  bargains.  It 
provides  for  a  wage  board  on  which  they  shall  have 
proportional  representation,  and  which  shall  hear 
and  determine  disputes  respecting  hours,  wages  and 
working  conditions,  subject  to  appeal  to  the  Com- 
mission. It  gives  the  men  security  of  employment, 
and,  in  the  interest  of  the  public,  prohibits  strikes 
pending  negotiation,  investigation,  and  determina- 
tion. 

It  is  a  fundamental  principle  of  American  govern- 
ment that  all  citizens  have  equal  civil  rights.     It  is 


LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES      199 

the  duty  of  government  to  protect  each  in  the 
reasonable  exercise  of  these  rights,  and  to  prevent 
him  from  infringing  the  rights  of  others;  to  pro- 
vide tribunals  which  shall  afford  such  protection  and 
which  shall  enable  each  citizen,  in  case  of  disagree- 
ment as  to  what  his  rights  are,  to  obtain  a  peaceable 
settlement  of  them. 

A  strike  in  a  public  service  system  is  a  violation 
of  these  rights.  It  is  a  combination  by  members  of 
a  secret  order,  which  is  not  now  accountable  to  the 
government,  to  prevent  citizens  from  exercising 
their  lawful  rights.  The  right  of  a  citizen  to  travel 
on  the  public  highways  is  absolute.  A  com- 
bination to  prevent  him  from  doing  this  is  un- 
lawful. 

Cities  in  America  have  already  about  half  the 
population  of  the  country.  It  is  not  a  mere  matter 
of  convenience  whether  these  people  can  have  rail- 
road facilities  within  the  city  limits.  It  is  a  matter 
of  life  and  death.  For  their  benefit  the  street  rail- 
roads have  been  built.  Many  of  these  are  built 
under  the  supervision  of  the  city  and  belong  to  or 
will  ultimately  become  the  property  of  the  city. 
They  pay  rent  to  the  city  for  the  use  of  the  streets, 
and  they  also  pay  taxes.  More  and  more  the 
revenue  from  them  will  become  an  important  part 
of  the  city  budget  and  will,  to  that  extent,  diminish 
the  taxes  imposed  on  other  property.  The  people 
have  decided  that  it  is  in  the  public  interest  to 
have  these  railroads  operated  by  corporations  and 
not  directly  by  the  city  officials.  But  none  the  less, 
they  are  public  agencies.    It  was  on  this  ground  the 


200     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

,1 

courts  decided  that  public  service  corporations  could 
be  given  the  right  of  eminent  domain.  That  is  to 
say,  they  have  the  right  to  take  private  property 
against  the  owner's  will,  upon  making  hin?  compen- 
sation, which  compensation  is  determined  by  what 
is  the  equivalent  of  an  arbitration  board.  Com- 
missioners are  appointed  by  the  court  to  ascertain 
the  fair  value  of  the  property  taken.  They  are,  we 
repeat,  public  ag'^ncies.  It  is  on  this  ground  that 
they  are  subject  to  public  regulation.  For  this  pur- 
pose public  service  commissions  are  created.  They 
act  directly  upon  the  corporations,  and  the  courts 
have  power  to  compel  obedience  by  their  officers  to 
the  orders  given  by  them. 

Those  who  advocate  the  right  to  strike  say  that 
the  strikers  will  not  do  any  harm  to  person  or 
property;  that  one  of  their  principles  is — "They 
will  fold  their  arms  and  do  nothing.'*  For  a 
moment  let  us  assume  that  no  affirmative  act  of 
wrongdoing  would  be  committed.  Is  it  not  clear 
that  the  stopping  of  the  operation  of  the  railways 
of  the  telephone  or  telegraph  lines,  or  the  mining 
of  coal  is  just  as  injurious  to  the  people  who  need 
to  use  them  in  order  to  go  to  and  fro  to  earn  their 
own  living  or  to  get  necessary  supplies  for  their 
families,  or  to  communicate  with  other  citizens  as 
if  the  men  burned  the  barns  or  destroyed  the  cars 
or  wires  or  blockaded  the  shafts? 

It  kills  a  man  just  as  soon  if  you  plug  an  artery 
as  if  you  cut  his  throat.  Society  cannot  live  without 
the  circulation  of  the  blood.  Railroads,  telegraphs, 
and  telephones  are  the  channels  through  which  it 


LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES     201 

circulates;  and  coal  feeds  the  "blood  producing 
organs. 

But,  alas,  experience  shows  that  when  a  strike 
comes  there  always  is  violence.  If  any  man  comes 
forward  to  take  the  place  of  the  striker,  he  is 
reviled,  assailed,  and  sometimes  murdered.  In  the 
Colorado  strike  years  ago  it  was  said  by  men  w^ho 
ought  to  have  known  better,  when  workmen  w'ho 
took  the  place  of  the  strikers  were  killed — ''  It  was 
good  enough  for  the  scabs."  In  the  railroad  strike 
in  1894  engines  and  cars,  switches  and  tracks  were 
injured  or  destroyed,  and  those  who  were  trying  to 
operate  the  trains  in  obedience  to  law,  were  mobbed. 
In  the  coal  strike  of  1902,  the  cruelties  practised  by 
the  strikers  upon  all  who  did  not  co-operate  with 
them,  were  such  that  Wayne  McVeagh,  an  impartial 
observer,  who  had  been  a  cabinet  minister,  and  who 
was  a  man  of  the  utmost  fairness,  said  it  was  hell. 
Cruelties  were  inflicted  not  jonly  on  men,  but  on 
their  wives  and  children,  on  teachers  in  the  public 
schools,  on  every  living  being  in  the  district  who 
did  not  co-operate  with  the  strikers.  These  outrages 
are  not  "always  committed  by  members  of  the  labour 
unions.  A  strike  always  gives  opportunity  to  the 
lawless  element  in  the  community.  That  is  one 
reason  why  strikes,  if  possible,  should  be  prevented. 

The  argument  is  put  forward  against  this  propo- 
sition that  it  is  better  to  have  a  voluntary  agree- 
ment between  the  parties.  To  this  we  reply :  There 
is  nothing  in  the  plan  of  compulsory  arbitration  to 
prevent  collective  bargaining.  On  the  contrary,  the 
plan  contemplates  organization  by  the  employees 


202     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

and  agreements  between  them  and  the  employers 
which  shall,  among  other  things,  fixia  definite  term 
of  employment.  There  is  nothing  in  the  plan  which 
would  prevent  such  an  agreement.  It  has  been 
argued  that  if  there  were  any  legal  sanction  to  such 
an  agreement  the  men  would  not  be  so  willing  to 
make  it.  This  fear  is  not  justified  by  experience. 
Men  are  making  contracts  all  the  time  in  ordinary 
business.  Not  one  in  ten  thousand  of  these  ever 
comes  before  a  court,  or  is  ever  enforced  by  law. 
But  they  can  be  enforced.  This  fact  does  not  make 
men  unwilling  to  enter  into  contracts  or  to  perform 
the  bargains  they  have  made. 

Such  a  plan,  has  been  tried  with  success  in  munici- 
pal government.  When  Colonel  Waring  was  head 
of  the  Department  of  Street  Cleaning  in  New  York 
under  Mayor  Strong's  administration,  he  provided 
a  tribunal  of  arbitration  in  his  department  which 
took  effect  January  7,  1896. 

This  was  Colonel  Waring's  method : 

"  In  order  to  establish  friendly  and  useful  rela- 
tions between  the  men  in  the  Working  Force  and  the 
Officers  of  the  Department,  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  an 
organization  formed  among  the  men  for  the  discus- 
sion of  all  matters  of  interest. 

"  This  Organization  will  be  represented  by  five 
Spokesmen  in  a  *  Board  of  Conference,'  in  which  the 
Commissioner  will  be  represented  by  the  General 
Superintendent,  the  Chief  Clerk,  one  District  Superin- 
tendent, one  Section  Foreman  and  one  Stable  Fore- 
man." The  men  were  to  elect  a  General  Committee 
who  would  elect  these  five  Spokesmen. 


LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES     203 

"  The  General  Committee  will  meet  in  a  room  to  be 
provided  for  them  at  2  p.m.  on  every  Thursday,  ex- 
cept the  third  Thursday  of  each  month.  The  mem- 
bers will  not  have  their  time  docked  for  this.  Their 
meetings  will  be  secret;  and  they  will  be  expected  to 
discuss  with  perfect  freedom  everything  connected 
with  their  work,  their  relations  with  the  Commis- 
sioner and  his  subordinates,  and  all  questions  of 
discipline,  duties,  pay,  etc.,  in  which  they  are  inter- 
ested or  which  the  Sections,  Stables  and  Dumps  may 
have  submitted  to  them.  The  *  Board  of  Conference  ' 
will  meet  monthly. 

"  The  ten  members  of  the  *  Board  of  Conference ' 
will  be  on  a  perfect  equality.  It  will  establish  its  own 
organization  and  Rules  of  Procedure,  and  will  elect 
one  of  its  members  Permanent  Chairman  and  another 
Permanent  Secretary,  one  of  these  to  be  chosen  from 
the  five  Officers  and  another  from  the  five  Spokes- 
men. 

"  It  is  hoped  that  this  Board  will  be  able  to  settle 
every  question  that  may  come  up  to  the  satisfaction 
of  all  concerned,  because  most  differences  can  be  ad- 
justed by  discussions  in  which  both  sides  are  fairly 
represented. 

"  Should  any  matter  arise  as  to  which  the  Board 
cannot  come  to  a  substantial  agreement,  the  Perma- 
nent Chairman  and  the  Permanent  Secretary  will 
argue  the  case  before  the  Commissioner,  who  will  try 
to  reach  fair  conclusion  upon  it." 

This  communication  was  received  with  suspicion. 
As  one  of  the  men  reported : 

"  Arbitration  was  looked  upon  as  a  far-off  theory, 
applicable,  perhaps,  at  times,  somewhere  and  under 


204     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

certain  conditions;  but  the  idea  of  its  adaptation  to 
and  adoption  by  a  municipal  department  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  and  especially  the  Department  of 
Street  Cleaning,  where  political  preference  was  the 
only  rule  they  had  ever  known,  had  never  entered 
their  minds.  In  fact,  they  were  warned  by  sceptics, 
both  inside  of  the  Department  and  among  themselves, 
to  'look  out  for  Waring;  this  is  one  of  his  tricks.' 
That  any  commissioner  of  Street  Cleaning,  even 
though  he  were  an  *  angel,'  should  honestly  intend, 
and  honestly  endeavour  to  deal  fairly  with  the  rank 
and  file  of  those  under  him,  was  too  much  to  believe. 
There  must,  they  thought,  be  some  sinister  motive 
behind  it. 

"  Gradually,  however,  .  .  .  the  *  Committee  of  41' 
became  a  body  of  earnest  and  honest  co-operators 
with  the  Commissioner,  toward  the  mutual  confidence 
so  essential  for  contentment  on  the  part  of  the  men, 
and  without  which  the  best  results  from  the  com- 
bined efforts  of  the  Commissioner  and  themselves, 
could  not  be  expected." 

This  committee  dealt  with  all  complaints  made 
against  members  of  the  force  and  with  all  griev- 
ances which  any  member  claimed  to  have  felt.  The 
total  number  of  cases  considered  by  the  board  dur- 
ing the  year  was  124,  an  average  of  over  ten  for 
each  meeting.  There  v^ere  no  "  tricks  of  the 
trade  "  here,  but  mutual  confidence.  That  is  what 
Christians  should  try  to  secure. 

Another  point  made  against  such  a  plan  is  that  it 
infringes  the  right  of  liberty  of  contract.  This  is 
claimed  to  be  absolute.  We  reply  that  such  a  plan 
contemplates  a  contract  freely  made  between  the 


LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES     205 

employer  and  the  employee.  Nobody  is  obliged  to 
enter  the  service  of  a  public  service  company. 
When  he  does  he  becomes  a  public  employee  volun- 
tarily, and  subjects  himself  to  the  conditions  of  his 
employment.  That  is  why  he  is  not  a  slave.  The 
slave  did  not  enter  service  voluntarily.  "  The  free- 
man owns  himself,"  it  is  said.  Yes,  but  he  owes  a 
duty  to  God,  and  to  the  State.  It  is  part  of  his  duty 
to  keep  his  contract.  There  is  no  real  freedom  on 
any  other  terms. 

The  position  thus  assumed  is  not  "  involuntary 
servitude,"  nor  would  a  law  compelling  workmen  to 
keep  their  contract  reduce  them  to  involuntary  servi- 
tude. If  irreparable  injury  should  be  caused  by  its 
violation,  the  court  could  enjoin  such  violation.  In 
the  case  of  seamen  the  United  States  Supreme  Court 
has  held  that  an  act  compelling  a  seaman  who  has 
deserted  to  return  to  his  ship  does  not  reduce  him 
to  involuntary  servitude.  This  is  put  on  the  ground 
that  he  voluntarily  entered  the  service.  The  court 
said:^** 

"  A  service  which  was  knowingly  and  willingly 
entered  into  could  not  be  called  involuntary." 

The  court  pointed  out  that  it  is  necessary  for  the 
public  welfare,  the  safety  of  passengers,  and  the 
delivery  of  freight  that  a  ship's  crew  should  per- 
form their  contract.  It  is  just  as  essential  to  the 
safety  and  welfare  of  passengers  that  cars  should 
be  run  through  to  their  destination  as  it  is  that  a 
ship  should  run  through  to  hers.    A  carrier  by  land 

10  Robertson  v.  Baldwin,  165  U.  S.  281. 


2o6     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

is  just  as  much  a  common  carrier  as  a  carrier  by 
sea,  and  subject  to  the  same  rules.  This  was  held 
by  the  Supreme  Court  in  the  Debs  case,  hereinafter 
quoted. 

It  is  important  to  notice  that  when  conductors  and 
motormen  quit  their  employment,  they  do  it  in 
obedience  to  "  orders."  These  orders  are  per- 
emptory. Any  restraint  exercised  by  statute  would 
be  a  restraint  upon  the  leaders,  prohibiting  them 
from  giving  orders  to  the  men  to  strike.  These 
leaders  are  not  conductors  or  motormen.  They 
draw  their  salaries  from  the  union  treasury.  It  is 
not  involuntary  servitude  to  prevent  them  from 
interfering  with  the  public  service. 

It  is  also  important  to  notice  that  the  leaders  give 
orders,  not  for  the  purpose  of  relieving  men  from 
their  jobs,  but  for  the  purpose  of  coercing  em- 
ployers to  submit  to  their  ''  demands." 

We  are  referred  to  the  case  of  Adair  v.  United 
States,  208  U.  S.,  161,  decided  in  January,  1908. 
The  Supreme  Court  in  that  case  did  decide  that  the 
provision  in  the  tenth  section  of  the  Erdman  Act, 
which  made  it  unlawful  to  discriminate  against  any 
employee  because  of  membership  in  a  labour  union, 
was  not  within  the  power  of  Congress  to  enact. 
The  majority  of  the  court  put  the  decision  on  the 
ground  that  "  there  is  no  such  connection  between 
interstate  commerce  and  membership  in  a  labour 
organization  as  to  authorize  Congress  to  make  it  a 
crime  against  the  United  States  to  discharge  an 
employee  because  of  such  membership  on  his  part." 
It   seems   to   the  author   that   the    railroad   strike 


LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES     207 

ordered  in  August,  19 16,  must  have  enlightened  the 
court  upon  this  subject.  It  was  there  made  plain 
as  a  matter  of  fact,  that  the  connection  between 
interstate  commerce  and  the  labour  unions  is  vital, 
and  that  it  was  within  the  power  of  the  labour 
unions,  unless  forcibly  restrained  in  some  way,  to 
destroy  interstate  commerce  altogether.  Probably 
the  court  would  now  follow  the  same  course  that 
they  did  in  reference  to  laws  limiting  the  hours  of 
labour  in  certain  trades.  Mr.  Brandeis,  who  has  be- 
come a  Justice  of  the  court,  satisfied  the  court  that 
such  prohibition  in  the  case  of  women  was  necessary 
to  the  public  welfare.  It  was  therefore  within  the 
legitimate  exercise  of  the  police  power,  and  these 
new  facts  appearing,  the  court  held  that  the  principle 
they  had  relied  upon  was  sound  but  did  not  apply  to 
the  situation."  This  principle  of  liberty  of  contract 
would,  in  our  judgment,  in  like  manner  be  held  in- 
applicable to  existing  conditions,  if  this  question 
should  again  come  before  the  Supreme  Court. 

But  let  us  point  out  a  passage  in  the  majority 
opinion,  which  appears  to  have  been  overlooked.  At 
page  175,  Mr.  Justice  Harlan,  speaking  for  the 
court,  said: 

"  Of  course  if  the  parties,  by  contract,  fix  the 
period  of  service  and  prescribe  the  conditions  upon 
which  the  contract  may  be  terminated,  such  contract 
would  control  the  rights  of  the  parties  as  between 
themselves.  And  for  any  violation  of  those  provi- 
sions the  party  wronged  would  have  his  appropriate 
civil  action." 

11  Muller  V.  Oregon,  208  U.  S.  412,  420. 


2o8     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

,  If,  therefore,  the  contract  which  this  plan  pro- 
poses should  be  entered  into,  the  power  of  the  court 
to  enforce  it  would  be  undoubted. 

The  question  is  asked,  how  can  you  enforce  such 
a  law  as  this?  Some  labour  leaders  declare  that  it 
cannot  be  enforced.  Our  answer  to  that  is,  that  the 
right  of  the  public  to  have  the  arteries  of  commerce 
kept  open  with  free  circulation,  has  been  protected, 
and  can  be  again.  In  1894  the  American  Railway 
Union,  of  which  Eugene  V.  Debs  was  president,  and 
which  had  then  an  enrolment  of  150,000  members, 
ordered  a  strike  which  extended  through  twenty- 
seven  States.  A  bill  was  filed  by  Attorney  General 
Olney  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Cleveland,  alleging 
that  Mr.  Debs  and  his  associates  were  combining 
to  obstruct  the  commerce  of  the  country.  The  court 
enjoined  them  from  doing  that.  They  were  advised 
by  their  counsel  that  the  injunction  was  illegal,  and 
they  disobeyed  it.  They  were  arrested  and  put  in 
prison.  Mr.  Debs  testified  before  the  Commission 
of  Investigation  appointed  by  Mr.  Cleveland  as 
follows : 

"  As  soon  as  the  employees  found  that  we  were 
arrested  and  taken  from  the  scene  of  action  they 
became  demoralized,  and  that  ended  the  strike." 

He  says  that  it  was  not  the  troops  that  broke  up 
that  strike ;  it  was  not  the  police  that  broke  it  up,  it 
was  the  action  of  the  United  States  courts.  Their 
action  was  sustained  by  the  Supreme  Court.^" 

12  In  re  Debs,  isS^U  S.  564,  ex  parte  Lennon,  166  U.  S. 
548. 


LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES     209 

In  the  Phelan  case  (62  Federal  Rep.  803),  Judge, 
afterwards  President,  Taft  dealt  with  a  disturbance 
arising  out  of  this  strike.  Phelan  was  an  organizer 
who  induced  railroad  men  to  strike.  The  court 
found  that  this  w^as  a  violation  of  the  order  that  all 
persons  refrain  from  interfering  with  interstate 
commerce,  and  committed  him  for  contempt.  At 
page  821,  Judge  Taft  said  that  an  individual  had  the 
right  voluntarily  to  quit  work.  He  was  under  no 
time  contract.  But  the  court  could  restrain  the 
chiefs  of  secret  orders,  in  the  management  of  which 
the  public  had  no  voice,  from  doing  injury  to  th* 
public.    To  quote  his  words  : 

"  The  purpose,  shortly  stated,  was  to  starve  the 
railroad  companies  and  the  public  into  compelling 
Pullman  to  do  something  which  they  had  no  lawful 
right  to  compel  him  to  do.  Certainly  the  starvation 
of  a  nation  cannot  be  a  lawful  purpose  of  a  combina- 
tion, and  it  is  utterl}^  immaterial  whether  the  pur- 
pose is  effected  by  means  usually  lawful  or  otherwise." 

Debs  further  testified : 

"  A  strike  is  war.  Not  necessarily  a  war  of  blood 
and  bullets,  but  a  war  in  the  sense  that  it  is  a  con- 
flict between  two  contending  interests  or  classes  of 
interests." 

Another  grievance  that  Mr.  Gompers  has  often 
referred  to  is  real.  That  is,  the  apprehension  of 
arbitrary  discharge.  It  is  often  suspected,  whether 
justly  or  not,  that  men  who  are  active  in  the  man- 
agement and  direction  of  unions  are  "  spotted  "  as 
the  phrase  is,  and  that  sooner  or  later  some  pretext 


210     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

is  found  for  their  discharge.  We  should  deal  with 
this  grievance  and  provide  that  employment  by  car- 
riers should  always  be  for  a  fixed  term,  as  proposed 
by  a  wise  employer,  Henry  R.  Towne.  No  man 
should  be  summarily  discharged.  If  any  complaint 
is  made  by  a  superior,  it  should  be  referred  to  a 
committee,  which  can  hear  summarily  the  complaint 
and  the  explanation  to  be  given,  and  approve  or  dis- 
approve the  penalty  which  the  superior  claims 
should  be  inflicted.  As  we  write  (June,  1919)  a 
strike  is  on  in  Winnipeg,  by  which  violent  method 
it  is  sought  to  compel  the  adoption  of  this  system  in 
that  province  of  the  Dominion.  It  is  a  good  system, 
and  legislation  should  provide  a  peaceable  way  for 
its  adoption. 

Such  a  system  as  this  has  been  found  successful 
in  many  public  offices  and  in  many  great  private 
establishments.  For  example,  in  the  great  works 
under  the  general  management  of  Edison  at  Orange, 
N.  J.,  with  seven  thousand  employees,  and  in  the 
department  store  of  Filene  in  Boston.  Doubtless 
investigation  would  show  that  it  exists  in  other 
places.  Its  operation  in  the  main  has  been  satis- 
factory. Defects  have  been  pointed  out,  but  they 
are  mainly  such  as  are  incidental  to  public  admin- 
istration. It  keeps  up  the  tone  of  the  service;  pro- 
tects the  men  from  arbitrary  action  and  from  the 
fear  of  it,  which  Is  perhaps  quite  as  serious  as  the 
action  itself.  In  New  York  City,  Borough  Presi- 
dent McAneny  found  it  desirable  to  have  this  com- 
mittee composed  in  part  of  employees.  He  had 
many  hearings  during  his  term  of  office,  and  in- 


LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES     211 

forms  us  that  in  every  case  the  decision  was  unani- 
mous. We  can  trust  the  men  who  are  in  the  service 
of  the  pubHc  in  connection  with  our  great  pubUc 
utiHties  corporations,  and  if  we  do  trust  them,  they 
will  deal  fairly  with  the  public  and  with  one  another. 
But  if  the  public  is  to  trust  them,  they,  in  turn, 
should  be  willing  to  trust  the  public.  The  old  saying 
was  that  protection  and  allegiance  are  reciprocal. 
Confidence  certainly  must  be  reciprocal,  or  it  does 
not  exist. 

The  fear  is  expressed  by  labour  leaders  that  im- 
partial and  competent  tribunals  of  arbitration  could 
not  be  found.  Miss  Goldmark  puts  the  case  well  in 
a  brief  which  she  and  Mr.  Rosenstein  presented  on 
behalf  of  the  National  Consumers'  League: 

"If  strikes  are  to  be  avoided,  the  State  should  pro- 
vide a  method  of  adjudication  which  can  give  to 
employees  the  relief  now  secured,  if  at  all,  by  strikes, 
and  at  the  cost  of  inconvenience  or  danger  to  society. 
The  remedy  afforded  by  the  State  must  be  broad 
enough  to  enable  the  workers  to  get  all  the  rights  and 
concessions  which  they  could  obtain  by  strikes." 

Such  a  remedy  was  provided  by  the  United  States 
in  1902  during  the  coal  strike.  A  commission  of 
seven  impartial  and  competent  men  was  appointed 
by  President  Roosevelt.  They  made  a  thorough  in- 
vestigation. The  men  went  back  to  work  pending 
this  investigation.  The  report  provided  a  working 
plan  for  three  years.  This  plan  included  a  board 
like  the  wage  board  now  proposed,  which  had  power 
to  hear  complaints  respecting  the  working  of  the 


212     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

plan  and  to  adjust  grievances.  The  schedule  was  to 
continue  until  1906.  In  that  year  it  was  renewed 
until  1909.  In  its  general  features  it  was  renewed 
again. 

The  essential  point  is  to  secure  a  board  composed 
— not  of  advocates  for  one  side  or  the  other — but 
of  impartial  men.  It  should  be  a  real  industrial 
court  that  will  command  confidence,  and  confidence 
will  secure  obedience. 

We  appreciate  the  tenacity  with  which  both  labour 
leaders  and  employers  stand  for  freedom.  Legisla- 
tion is  not  a  panacea.  Our  common  object  should  be 
the  betterment  of  all,  and  arbitration  legislation 
would  not  be  useful  unless  enforced.  But  public 
service  commissions  would  enforce  it;  the  courts 
would  enforce  it;  public  sentiment  would  stand  be- 
hind it,  and  in  a  year  or  two  the  unions  and  the 
companies  alike  would  think  it  excellent.  The 
fundamental  proposition  on  which  it  is  based  is  this : 
There  are  duties  as  well  as  rights.  A  man  who  has 
made  a  contract  is  in  duty  bound  to  keep  it,  and  has 
no  right  to  quit  when  he  pleases.  A  physician  who 
should  undertake  an  operation  and  stop  in  the  middle 
of  it,  would  be  indictable,  and  if  the  patient  died 
would  be  guilty  of  manslaughter.  A  lawyer  who 
should  desert  his  client  in  the  middle  of  a  case  would 
be  disbarred  and  would  be  liable  in  damages  for  any 
injuries  his  client  might  suffer.  We  must  stand  on 
this  principle,  or  we  can  only  stand  on  the  right  of 
the  strongest.  And  when  it  comes  to  the  point, 
the  leaders  of  the  labour  unions,  who,  after  all,  are 
citizens  of  this  great  country,  which  Mr.  Gompers 


LABOUR,  CAPITAL,  AND  STRIKES     213 

rightly  says  is  the  best  in  the  world,  will  be  obedient 
to  the  law  of  the  land.  If,  actuated  by  misguided 
counsels,  they  should  refuse  obedience,  we  must 
remind  them  that  Justice,  which  has  scales  in  the  one 
hand  for  settling  controversies  according  to  right, 
has,  in  the  other,  a  sword  to  enforce  obedience  if  her 
commands  are  violated. 

When  employers  dominated,  the  public  curbed 
their  power.  Now  the  unions  dominate,  we  must 
curb  theirs.  Both  sides  must  subordinate  their 
power  to  "  the  betterment  of  all." 

Thus  have  I  tried  to  express  the  conclusion 
drawn  by  me  from  sixty  years'  experience  and  ob- 
servation: that  the  Bible  when  intelligently  studied 
and  understood  in  its  true  meaning  provides  the  true 
and  adequate  solution  for  the  problems  which  nov/ 
disturb  civilised  society,  the  failure  to  solve  which 
threatens  the  very  existence  of  that  society.  But 
we  cannot  forget  that  the  struggle  is  long  and 
arduous.  There  are  many  adversaries.  Let  us 
therefore  find  strength  and  cheer  in  the  assurance 
of  immortality  that  Easter  Day  gives  us,  the  faith 
in  which  gave  new  life  to  the  disappointed  and  sor- 
rowful disciples.  These  are  glad  tidings  indeed. 
Let  us  consider  them  in  our  final  chapter. 


XV 

IMMORTALITY 

IN  considering  this  subject,  we  have  to  deal  with 
another  instance  of  progressive  revelation.  St. 
Paul  tells  us  that  Christ  abolished  death,  and 
brought  life  and  immortality  to  light  by  the  gospel.^ 
Certain  it  is  that  the  intimations  of  immortality  in 
the  Old  Testament  are  few. 

Yet  Christ  has  taught  us  a  fruitful  lesson  for  our 
studies  of  the  Old  Testament.  There  was  a  sect 
among  the  Jews  who  found  so  few  intimations  of 
immortality  in  their  sacred  books  that  they  denied  it 
altogether.  These  were  the  Sadducees.  To  use  the 
language  of  the  Book  of  Acts,  they  say  "  that  there 
is  no  resurrection,  neither  angel  nor  spirit."  ^  In 
the  Passover  week  before  the  crucifixion,  they  came 
to  debate  with  Christ,  and  put  to  Him  a  question  re- 
specting the  resurrection,  which  they  based  on 
the  Jewish  law  which  honoured  the  family  relation, 
and  was  diligent  to  observe  a  continuity  of  family 
life. 

In  the  Book  of  Deuteronomy  it  was  therefore 
enacted :  "  If  brethren  dwell  together,  and  one  of 
them  die,  and  have  no  child,  the  wife  of  the  dead 
shall  not  marry  unto  a  stranger:  her  husband's 

ijt  Tim^.  i:io.  2  Acts  23:8. 

814 


IMMORTALITY  215 

brother  shall  go  in  unto  her,  and  take  her  to  him 
to  wife,  and  perform  the  duty  of  an  husband's 
brother  unto  her.  .  .  .  And  it  shall  be,  that  the 
first  born  which  she  beareth  shall  succeed  in  the 
name  of  his  brother  which  is  dead,  that  his  name  be 
not  blotted  out  of  Israel."  ^ 

A   beautiful   instance  of   this   custom   is   to  be 
found  in  the  Book  of  Ruth. 

The  Sadducees  loved  to  perplex  the  Pharisees  by 
putting  the  case  of  a  family  of  seven  brothers,  each 
of  whom  in  succession  was  married  to  the  same  wife 
and  none  of  whom  had  any  children.  Their  ques- 
tion was,*  "  In  the  resurrection  therefore  whose 
wife  of  them  shall  she  be?"  Jesus  taught  them 
that,  while  in  the  books  of  Moses  the  resurrection  to 
eternal  life  was  not  plainly  taught,  yet  it  was  fairly 
to  be  inferred.  Moses  describes  the  vision  that  he 
had  at  the  burning  bush.  God  said  to  him  there: 
"  I  AM  the  God  of  thy  Fathers,  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham, the  God  of  Isaac,  and  the  God  of  Jacob."  ^ 
Christ  quoted  to  his  opponents  this  passage,  and 
then  said,  "  He  is  not  a  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the 
living :  for  all  live  unto  him."  ^ 

There  is  in  the  Book  of  Isaiah*'  an  assurance  of 
immortality  which  is  founded  there,  as  it  was  by  our 
Lord,  on  the  presence  and  the  power  of  God.  In  the 
midst  of  the  suffering  that  the  invading  Assyrians 
had  brought  upon  the  Hebrews,  there  came  the 
promise  *'  that  the  Lord  will  destroy  in  this  moun- 
tain the  face  of  the  covering  cast  over  all  people, 

3  Deut.  25 :  5,  6.         ^  Exod.  3:5.        "^  Isa.  25 :  6-8 ;  26 :  19. 

4  Luke  20 :  33.  ^  Lu^e  20 :  38. 


2i6     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

and  the  veil  that  Is  spread  over  all  nations."  "  He 
will  swallow  up  death  in  victory;  and  the  Lord  God 
will  wipe  away  tears  from  off  all  faces.  ...  It 
shall  be  said  in  that  day,  Lo,  this  is  our 
God;  we  have  waited  fbr  him,  and  he  will  save 
us." 

Again  when  the  prophet  speaks  of  the  anguish, 
as  it  came  upon  the  Hebrews,  their  sense  of  failure, 
their  feeling, — "  we  have  not  wrought  any  deliver- 
ance in  the  earth," — the  Lord  said :  '*  Thy  dead  men 
shall  live,  together  with  my  dead  body  shall  they 
arise.  Awake  and  sing,  ye  that  dwell  in  dust;  for 
thy  dew  is  as  the  dew  of  herbs,  and  the  earth  shall 
cast  out  the  dead."  ^ 

It  will  be  remembered  that  these  prophecies  of 
Isaiah  which  have  been  referred  to,  were  delivered 
before  the  captivity.  During  that  captivity  there 
came  another  prophet,  the  Hebrew  statesman, 
Daniel.  There  are  many  who  think  that  the  Jews 
obtained  from  the  Chaldaeans  more  faith  in  im- 
mortality. No  doubt  the  belief  on  this  subject, 
Vvhich  they  found  among  their  conquerors,  did 
fortify  their  confidence  in  the  revelation  they  had 
already  received.  We  find  in  the  Book  of  Daniel 
this  encouraging  assurance :  *'  They  that  are  wise 
shall  shine  as  the  brightness  of  the  firmament;  and 
they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the  stars 
forever  and  ever."  ^ 

But  while  we  have  in  the  Old  Testament  these 


"^  The  student  of  this  great  prophecy  should  read  the  thirti- 
eth chapter  of  Sir  George  Adam  Smith's  "  Isaiah,"  Vol.  I. 
»Dan.  12:3. 


IMMORTALITY  217 

few  assurances  of  immortal  life,  the  revelation  of 
the  New  is  infinitely  more  distinct  and  clearer.  In 
this  connection  we  must  remember  that  Christianity 
distinctly  is  a  personal  religion.  Christ  is  the  centre. 
Those  that  loved  Him  and  followed  Him  naturally 
were  called  Christians,  and  have  been  so  ever  since 
the  name  was  first  given  in  Antioch,  very  soon  after 
His  ascension.  But  long  before  this,  He  Himself 
declared:  "I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life;  he 
that  believeth  in  me,  though  he  were  dead,  yet  shall 
he  live,  and  whosoever  liveth  and  believeth  in  me 
shall  never  die."  ^^ 

In  many  forms,  particularly  in  the  great  discourse 
the  evening  before  the  crucifixion,  recorded  in  the 
Gospel  of  St.  John,  Christ  dwelt  upon  this  truth. 
His  followers  find  in  communion  with  Him,  both  in 
that  of  prayer,  of  the  Lord's  Supper,  and  in  the 
active  life  in  which  they  strive  to  fol- 
low His  example,  the  real  union  which  is  in  itself 
the  assurance  and  foretaste  of  eternal  life.  As 
He  said  Himself :  "  Because  I  live,  ye  shall  live 
also."  ^^ 

It  follows  from  the  passages  that  have  been 
quoted  and  many  others  that  might  be  referred  to, 
which  the  reader  will  remember,  that  in  the  con- 
ception of  our  Lord  the  life  of  the  soul  is  continu- 
ous. While  on  earth  in  the  body  we  use  our  bodily 
organs  as  means  for  the  expression  of  the  soul. 
Many  of  these  organs  are  designed  solely  to  pre- 
serve and  continue  the  material  life  of  the  body,  but 
through  many  of  them,  also,  the  soul  finds  expres- 
10  John  11:25,  26.  11  John  14:19. 


2i8     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

sion.  We  should,  however,  never  forget  that  it  is 
the  immortal  soul  which  is  the  personality  of  each 
individual. 

No  doubt  it  is  true  that  there  are  many  men 
who  are  so  absorbed  in  the  pursuit  of  material  ob- 
jects, wealth,  pleasure  or  power,  whatever  they  de- 
sire most,  that  the  expression  of  the  soul  is  ob- 
scured and  not  easily  discernible.  As  Browning 
says: 

"  The  soul  doubtless  is  immortal  where  a  soul  can 
be  discerned." 

Some  teachers  have  maintained  that  it  is  possible 
that  a  man  should  become  so  swallowed  up  in  the 
pursuit  of  the  material,  so  absorbed  in  the  routine 
business  of  everyday  life,  that  his  soul  shall  die, 
shall  become  extinguished.  It  is  no  part  of  the  pur- 
pose of  this  book  to  discuss  this  possibility.  What 
we  aim  at  is  to  develop  the  positive  teaching  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  we  therefore  go  on  to  consider  the 
most  distinct  expressions  that  are  given  in  the  New 
Testament  of  the  life  of  the  soul,  when  the  body  is 
dead. 

The  first  of  these  is  to  be  found  in  the  same  dis- 
cussion with  the  Sadducees,  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  made.  Christ  said  to  them  expressly : 
*'  The  children  of  this  w^orld  marry,  and  are  given 
in  marriage,  but  they  which  shall  be  accounted 
worthy  to  obtain  that  world,  and  the  resurrection 
from  the  dead,  neither  marry,  nor  are  given  in  mar- 
riage.   Neither  can  they  die  any  more ;  for  they  are 


IMMORTALITY  219 

equal  unto  the  angels;  and  are  the  children  of  God, 
being  the  children  of  the  resurrection."  ^^ 

When  thus  we  are  told  that  the  blessed  souls, 
after  the  death  of  the  body,  are  equal  unto  the 
angels,  we  receive  a  flood  of  light.  The  author  of 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  says  of  the  angels  :  "  Are 
they  not  all  ministering  spirits,  sent  forth  to  minister 
for  them  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation?  "  ^^ 

The  books  both  of  the  Old  and  New  Testament 
are  full  of  the  ministry  of  angels.  The  word  means 
messenger,  and  they  are  constantly  coming  vvith 
messages  to  the  people  of  God.  It  was  Gabriel  who 
announced  to  the  Blessed  IMary  that  she  should  be- 
come the  Mother  of  the  Saviour.  It  was  the  angels 
who  announced  His  birth  to  the  shepherds,  and  pro- 
claimed the  good  news  of  '*  peace  on  earth  to  men 
of  good-will."  " 

In  the  great  epic  of  the  Book  of  Revelation  it  is 
the  angels  who  are  sent  as  the  messengers  of  God 
to  do  justice  upon  the  cruel  oppressors  of  His 
people.  In  short,  it  is  distinctly  stated  everywhere 
in  the  Bible  that  the  influences  and  messages  of 
God,  the  Almighty,  are  communicated  to  men  very 
often  by  these  celestial  visitants.  It  is  true  we  do 
not  see  them  with  our  outward  eyes,  nor  are  they 
manifested  to  us  in  material  form.  But  the  whole 
Christian  revelation  is  based  upon  the  proposition 

12  Luke  20:34-36. 

"Heb.  1:14. 

1*  I  follow  here  the  version  of  the  Vulgate-Hominibus 
bonse  voluntatis.  This  seems  to  me  to  express  more  accu- 
rately the  meaning  of  the  original  than  our  ordinary  Eng- 
lish version. 


220     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

of  Christ  Himself,  that  the  "  Kingdom  of  God  does 
not  come  in  a  way  that  admits  of  observation;  nor 
will  people  say — Look  here  it  is !  or — There  it  is ! — 
for  the  Kingdom  of  God  is  within  you."  ^^ 

Christ  constantly  refused  to  give  some  won- 
drous sign  which  the  unbelieving  asked  for.  Unless 
\wt  realize  that  there  is  a  spiritual  nature  which  can 
commune  with  the  divine  nature,  and  is  made,  as 
even  the  Book  of  Genesis  tells  us,  in  the  likeness  of 
God,  we  have  not  taken  the  first  step  in  the  Chris- 
tian progress.  Once  we  take  that  step,  and  seek  the 
truth  of  Christ  where  He  declared  it  to  exist,  the  rest 
follow^s.  If  it  is  through  our  spiritual  perceptions 
that  we  apprehend  the  divine  truth,  it  is  through 
these  same  perceptions  that  we  receive  the  influence 
and  message  which  God  sends.  Like  every  other 
power  of  our  human  nature,  this  grows  by  use.  It 
gains  vigour  by  training.  The  beginner  must  not 
expect  a  full  vision.  The  young  student  of  art  has 
to  go  through  many  lessons  before  he  begins  to  ap- 
preciate the  work  of  the  great  masters.  The  student 
of  music  has  to  take  many  lessons,  often  difficult, 
sometimes  wearisome,  before  he  can  take  in  the 
glory  of  Beethoven  and  Handel.  So  we  need  not  be 
surprised  if,  in  the  progress  of  the  Christian  life, 
we  find  the  steps  difficult,  and  the  journey  arduous 
and  prolonged. 

Taking,  therefore,  our  Lord's  assurance  that  the 
souls  of  the  blessed  are  equal  unto  the  angels,  we 
need  not  doubt  that  they  are  engaged  in  active  works 
of  helpfulness  to  their  brethren  who  are  still  fight- 

"Luke  17:20,  21.    "Twentieth  Century  Testament." 


IMMORTALITY  221 

ing  the  battle  of  this  life.  In  the  first  battle  of  the 
Marne,  when  it  did  seem  as  if  all  the  powers  of  hell 
had  been  launched  against  the  French  and  the  Eng- 
lish, there  were  some  who  had  a  vision  of  an  angel 
leading  the  hosts  of  the  brave  defenders  of  the 
righteous  cause.  Whatever  we  may  think  of  the 
outward  visibility  of  this  manifestation,  we  may  be 
sure  that  the  skill,  the  energy,  the  patience,  the 
courage,  which  won  that  victory,  were  given  from 
God,  and  we  need  not  doubt  that  He  sent  angels  as 
His  ministers  to  comm.unicate  to  men  the  divine 
power.  Nor  should  we  doubt  that  some  of  these 
messengers  who  infused  new  life  and  courage  into 
the  w^eary  bodies  of  the  faithful  w^arriors,  were  the 
souls  of  the  heroes  who  had  struggled  in  time  past 
for  the  cause  of  freedom  and  justice,  and  who  now 
came  back  to  inspire  new"  life  into  the  soldiers  of 
God.  The  spirits  of  Joan  of  Arc  and  Hampden  may 
well  have  been  there,  as  w^ell  as  those  of  the  brave 
young  men  who  were  first  in  the  field  and  first  to 
fall. 

The  most  vivid  description  of  the  form,  if  we  may 
use  the  expression,  in  which  these  blessed  souls  are 
clothed  is  to  be  found  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of 
-St.  Paul's  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians.  His  con- 
ception of  the  existence  after  death  is  continuing 
personality.  The  immortal  is  the  development,  the 
completion  of  the  mortal,  just  as  the  ripe  wheat  is 
the  development  and  completion  of  the  seed  which 
has  been  sown.  The  husk  of  the  seed  moulders 
away,  but  the  vital  principle  is  developed  into  th@ 
new  stalk,  and  branches,  and  fruit. 


222     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLE 

"  To  every  seed  his  own  body,"  the  Apstle  said. 
"  Flesh  and  blood  cannot  inherit  the  kingdom  of 
God."  ^^  This  conception  of  immortality  is  far 
from  being  a  continuance  of  the  material  life  of 
this  world.  No  doubt  it  is  difficult  for  us  to  form  a 
distinct  conception  of  this  new  life.  The  very  real 
and  continuous  needs  of  our  material  bodies  neces- 
sarily absorb  a  great  deal  of  our  time  and  thought. 
The  world  where  the  human  being  will  need  neither 
food  or  clothing  is  certainly  hard  for  us  to  under- 
stand, nor  is  it  necessary  that  we  should.  The  point 
is  to  form  a  conception  as  vivid  as  possible  of  the 
continuance  of  personality.  Everything  turns  on 
this.  It  is,  after  all,  more  through  the  distinctive 
personality  of  each  individual  that  we  come  to  know 
and  love  one  another  in  this  life.  There  is  to  be  sure 
the  body  of  each.  This  is  the  material  dwelling 
place,  and  this  certainly  is  one  of  our  means  of 
knowledge  and  understanding  and  recognition.  But 
the  more  closely  we  come  to  know  those  whom  we 
love,  the  more  does  the  spiritual  personality  become 
the  ground-work  of  affection  and  of  knowledge. 
When  ^ve  are  parted,  thousands  of  miles  from  our 
beloved,  this  personality,  which  we  do  not  perceive 
with  our  outward  eyes,  is  still  real  to  us.  We 
should  try  and  form  an  equally  vivid  conception  of 
the  personality  and  continued  life  of  the  souls  that 
have  gone  from  this  existence  into  the  spiritual  life. 

Here  we  need  especially  to  remember  the  canon  of 
interpretation  to  which  attention  was  drawn  in  the 
first  chapter,  for  the  principal  pictorial  representa- 

"i  Cor.  15:38,  50. 


IMMORTALITY  223 

tion  of  the  future  life  in  the  Bible,  is  to  be  found  in 
the  Book  of  Revelation.  We  should  beware  of 
taking  this  book  literally,  and  we  should  remember 
that  its  images  were  primarily  intended  for  orientals 
to  whom  they  especially  appealed.  To  many  of  our 
race  these  images  are  not  particularly  appealing.  In 
an  illustrated  edition  of  those  parts  of  the  Bible 
which  were  thought  by  the  editor  to  be  especially 
adapted  for  children,  and  which  he  therefore  called, 
"  The  Children's  Bible,"  the  artist  of  the  earlier  edi- 
tion depicted  some  of  these  pictorial  representations 
in  a  literal  way.  Some  of  these  were  repugnant  to 
our  feelings.  One  of  them  in  particular,  the  author 
always  cut  out  of  the  book  before  he  gave  away  a 
copy.  It  is  a  satisfaction  to  know  that  in  the  later 
editions  these  literalist  pictures  have  been  replaced 
by  others  of  more  spiritual  character. 

The  point  after  all  for  us  is  to  treat  all  of  these 
pictures  and  promises  as  having  not  a  literal  but  a 
spiritual  significance.  If  the  blessed  souls  are  equal 
unto  the  angels,  and  are  constantly  engaged  in  mis- 
sions of  usefulness  and  comfort  from  God  Himself, 
it  is  obvious  that  they  will  not  be  all  the  time  as- 
sembled around  the  throne  and  constantly  engaged 
in  songs  of  praise.  These,  too,  have  their  place  on 
earth.  "  The  service  high  and  anthem  clear,"  do 
"  dissolve  us  into  ecstasies  and  bring  all  Heaven 
before  our  eyes."  But  the  active  Christian,  while 
finding  refreshment  in  these,  knows  very  well  that 
to  fulfil  the  will  of  the  Father,  he  must  take  these 
seasons  as  joyful  interludes  in  the  midst  of  active 
work. 


224     A  LAWYER'S  STUDY  OF  THE  BIBLB 

In  short,  we  must  take  for  our  guide  the  state- 
ments of  Christ  and  of  St.  Paul,  and  interpret  these 
pictorial  representations  in  the  light  thus  afforded. 
Difficulties  then  will  vanish.  On  the  one  hand  we 
will  realize  that  it  is  not  given  to  us  to  know  much 
that  is  definite  about  the  activity  of  departed  souls, 
but  on  the  other  hand  we  shall  have  the  assurance 
that  they  are  blessed,  that  they  are  full  of  life,  and 
are  engaged  in  doing  the  Lord's  work  more  fully 
and  perfectly  than  they  were  able  to  do  on  earth. 
To  this  every  soul  who  loves  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ 
with  sincerity  may  look  forward  with  joyful  hope. 
He  said :  **  Where  I  am,  there  shall  also  my 
servant  be."  ^'  We  shall  meet  with  Him  ''  an  in- 
numerable company  of  angels,  .  .  .  and  th© 
spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect."  ^® 

17  John  12:26.  i«  Hebrews  12:22,  23. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


INDEX 


Addams,  Jane:  gtatement  position 
Settlements,   122,   124 

Agreement  for  term  of  employ- 
ment, 207-9 

American  Democracy:  position  of 
public  officials  and  relation  to 
Courts,  195 

American  freedom,   103 

Amusements,   160 

Anaesthetics,  59 

Angels:  ministry  of,  219,  221 
types    of    Immortal    Life,    219, 
224 

Anglo-Saxon  race  in  America,   75 

Antin,  Mary:  The  Promised  Land, 
92 

Antiseptic  treatment,  60 

Arbitration  Board,  composition  of, 
21 

Arbitration,  industrial:  enforce- 
ment decision,  207 

Arbitration   in  public   service,   202 

Babylon,  judgment  upon,   164 

Beaconsfield:  message  to  Univer- 
sity men  and  women,  126 

Bible:    erroneous  idea  we  are   ac- 
quainted with  it,   142 
practical  value  of  its  study,  9 
rules   for  construction  of,    15-20 

Bolshevism,  97 

Brewer,  Justice:  rule  of  interpre- 
tation, 20 

Brooks,  Phillips:  knowledge  of 
Christ,  42 

Brotherhood  of  Man,  80 

Browning,  Robert:  idea  of  Im- 
mortality, 32 

Capitalism  in  America,  81,  103 
Captains   of   industry:    their    func- 
tion, 99 
Carlyle,  Thomas:  on  fatalism,  67 

on  the  ideal  and  the  actual,   106 

on  socialism,  84 
Changes  human  conditions,  8 
Chaplains,  work  of,   151 
Children's   Bible:   illustrations   of. 


Christ:    character    of,    26,    38,    39, 
41,  42,  58,  62-5,  80 
head  of  the  social  body,  189 
relation  of  His  teaching  to  Old 

Testament,  162,  167 
Revelation  of  God,  58 
social   quality   of   His   goodness, 

161 
social   reformer,    128 
source  of  power,  62 
Teacher  of  Immortality,  217 
type  of  virtue,  41 
Christian    Church:    duty   to    social 
reform,    149 
failure  to  teach  social  duty,  142 
Middle   Ages,    138 
parish    work,    146 
relation   to   the  truth,   40 
varied   functions   of,    152 
Christian  Commonwealth,  ideal  of, 

140 
Christian  socialism,  97 
Christians   leaders   in   social   prog- 
ress,  131,   134,   13s 
Christianity  main  source  of  moral 

development,  135 
Christianity,  new  covenant,   154 
Church  and  State,  148 
Circumstances    guide   to    construc- 
tion,  16 
City  govern»ient,   114 
City  social  conditions,   109-10 
Class  hatred,  85 
in  Russia,   156 
Cleveland,   Grover:   action  in  face 
of  commercial  crisis,  74 
action  in  railway  strike,  208 
Coal   strike,    1902:   cruelty  in,   201 

arbitration  of,  211 
Coleridge,  Samuel  T. :  teaching  as 

to  use  of  Scriptures,    142 
Collective   bargaining,    201 
Colleges  in  cities,   iii 
Colorado  strike,  201 
Communism,  89 
Conscription  Act,  19 
Contract  Labour  Act,  20 
Corporations:  growth  and  position 
of,  196 


225 


226 


INDEX 


Courts:  function  of,  195 
Cyrus:  mission  of,  171,  173 

Death  penalty:  abolition  in  Russia, 

Debs,  Eugene  V.:  testimony  be- 
fore Commission  of  investiga- 
tion, 208-9 

Demagogues,    143,    144 

Devine,  Dr.:  statement  of  reli- 
gious spirit  in  settlements, 
133-4    , 

District  leaders,  115,  124 

Divine  life  in  man,  38 

Divine  truth:   perception  of,   41 

Divorce,   zj 

Doyle,  Sir  Arthur  C:  views  on 
Immortality,   31-2 

Edison,  Thomas  A.:  electrical  in- 
ventions. 53,  100 

Edison  works:  system  of  dis- 
charge, 210 

Electricity:  utilization  of,  52,  61, 
100 

Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo:  words  to 
America,    loi 

Employees:  regulation  discharge 
of,  209-10. 

Employers  and  employees:  rela- 
tion under  Christian  teaching, 
190-2 

Enforcement  of  industrial  arbitra- 
tion, 208 

England,  population  of:  more 
homogeneous,   113 

Enslavement  by  Germans  of  cap- 
tives,  156 

Envy:  vice  of  republics,  98 

Evil   spirits:   casting   out  of,   64 

Existence  after  death,  221-2 

Experiences  of  religious  men,  43, 
44 

Factories:  improvements  in,  144 

Falsehood  in  controversy,  26 

Family  conditions  in  America,   92 

Farmers  in  America:  condition  of, 
90,  91 

Fatalism  and  the  Individual,  66 

Fatherhood  of  God,  80 

Fenelon:  example  of  Christian 
character,  41 

Ferdinand  and  Isabella:  reign  of, 
78 

Feudal  system,  194 

Filene  department  store:  system 
of  discharge,  210 

Foch,  Marshal  Ferdinand:  quota- 
tions from,  8,  9,   10,  57,  78 

Forgiveness:  duty  of,   178 

Formalism,    153 
in  Germany,  156 


Freedom  of  will,  67-9 
Future  life:  conditions  of,  31 

Gentiles:  extension  of  promises  to, 
33.  68 

Gibbs,  Wolcott:  teaching  as  to 
theory,  69 

God:  false  ideas  of,  58 

as  God  of  justice,   173-4.  180 
as  God  of  love.   174-5 
revealed  as  a  Person,  46 

God's  relation  to  law,  47 

Gold:  drain  upon  the  treasury  for, 

7i  ... 

Gompers,  Samuel:  position  in  re- 
lation to  industrial  arbitra- 
tion,  209,   212 

Government:   arbitrary  powers  of, 


Harper,  Chancellor:  description  of 
slavery,  95 

Head  Workers:  settlements,  125 

Heaven  as  a  place,  30 

Hebrew  monarchy:  rights  of  in- 
dividual citizens,   182 

Hebrew  worship  and  observances, 

153-5 
Holden,  J.   Stuart:  teaching  as  t» 

social  quality  of  Christ,  161 
Howard,  John:  work  of,  131 

Immortality,  214 

teaching  of  Hebrew   Scriptures, 
215-16 

Improvement  in  social  conditions 
in  America,  93-4 

Income  Tax  Law:  returns  under, 
90 

Individual  influence  upon  nations, 
78 

Industrial  arbitration,    198,  202 

Inspiration   Bible,    13 

Intellect:  development  of  not  suf- 
ficient, 193 

International  arbitration,   130 

Interpretation  statutes:  rules  of 
law,    15-20 

Involuntary  servitude,  19,  205 

Jeremiah  a  preacher  of  justice, 
182  , 

Judges:  selection  and  position  un- 
der   Mosaic   law,    168-9,    180-2 

Judgment  of  God  upon  pride  and 
oppression.    163-5 

Judicial  oaths,  lawfulness  of, 
183-5 

Justice  more  acceptable  than  sac- 
rifice. 34 

Kaiser:  downfall  of,   171 
Knowledge:   sources  of,   35 
Knowledge  of  God;  sources  of,  36 


INDEX 


227 


Labour:    its   share   in   products   of 

industry,  98 
Labour    unions:    loyalty    of    mem- 
bers,   197 
strikes  by,    197-201 
teaching  as  to  wages  and  work, 

192-3 
wealth  of,    197 
Law  of  God  unchanging,    157 
Legal  ethics,  25 
Legislation  no  panacea,    iJS 

in  pari  materia,   18 
Lenine  and   Trotsky:   influence  in 

Russia,   84 
Liberal  construction,   15 
Liberty  of  contract,  204 
Life  immortal:  conditions  of,  218- 

19 

Lincoln,  Abraham:  part  in  Civil 
War,   70-1,   77 

Lister,  Lord:  influence  in  sur- 
gery,  32,  60 

Lloyd  George,  David:  message  as 
to    Bible,    10 

Local  representation  in  America, 
no 

Lord's  Supper:  abuse  of,   139^ 

Lowell,  James  Russell:  on  indi- 
vidual influence,   79 

Lucretius:  teaching  as  to  the 
Gods,  43,  45 

Machinery:     advantages    of,     how 
divided,  98 
effects    on    social   conditions,    99 

Majority:  exaltation  of,  87 

Marconi:    wireless   telegraph,    53 

Marshall,  Chief  Justice:  rule  of 
interpretation,   17 

Materialism  the  enemy  of  immor- 
tality, 217-18 

McAneny,  George:  committee  to 
regulate  discharge  of  public 
service,  210 

Miller,  Justice:  rule  of  interpreta- 
tion,   19 

Milton,  John:  teaching  as  to  He- 
brew prophets,    172 

Miracles  of  Christ:  distinctive  fea- 
tures, 62-3 

Miracles:   Old  Testament,  65 
modern,  63 

Monastic  orders:  work  of,   145 

Morals:  state  of,  in  Great  Brit- 
ain, 76 

Moses  as  law-giver,   180 

Mosaic  Law,   159 

punishments  under,   168 

Napoleon  on  individual  influence, 
78 

National  duty  in  relation  to  ag- 
gressive warfare,   170 


Nature,  forces  of:  man's  control, 

60 
Neighbour:   duty  to,   96 

Objects  instrument  guide  to  con- 
struction,  17 

Omnipresence  of  God,   30,   52 

Optimism,    145 

Orders  by  officers  of  labour 
unions,    206 

Organized  Christianity;  power  and 
danger  of,  136 

Pacificism,    170 

Palmerston,     Lord:    action     as    to 
seizure     of     Confederate     en- 
voys,  71 
Pasteur,   Louis:   discoveries  of,   60 
Paul,  St.:  teaching  as  to  duties  of 
magistrates,    165 
truth,  24,  26 

organization  of  society,  i88-9« 
literalism,   16 
gradual   progress,    28 
justice  of  God.   68 
brotherhood   of    man,    80,    87 
Peat,    Harold    R. :    religious    spirit 

in  Army,   150 
Perjury:  punishment  of,   183 
Pershing,   General  J.  J.:  letter  as 

to  prayer.  56 
Personality  of   God,   59 
Personality      of      the      individual, 

221-2 
Petroleum:  improvements  refining, 

usefulness,   99 
Pharisees:     action     and     teaching, 

157-60 
Philip    II:    influence    and    charac- 
ter, 40,   78 
Physical  welfare,   105 
Pitt,     William:     action    in     Seven 

Years'  War,  75-6 
Population:  foreign  birth  in  Amer- 
ica,   113 
Potter,    Henry    C. :    teaching    rela- 
tion   of    Church    to    social    re- 
form,  148 
Poverty,   90 
Power  of  choice,  67 
Prayer:    intercourse   with   God,   49 
power  and  value,   48 
for   rain,    50 
reflex  influence  of,  54 
sonnets.   Trench,   55 
submissive   spirit  in,    51 
united,   55 
President:  powers  during  war,  104 
Pride,    commercial    and    national; 

punishment  of,   163-4 
Prince  Albert  modifies  Palmerston 
despatch,  72 


228 


INDEX 


Private  war,  186-8 
abolition  of,   194 
Professional      men:      position     in 

cities,  109-10 
Profit  sharing,  145 
Progressive  revelation,  27-9,  38 
Promises    God's    presence    to    Is- 
rael,  33 
Protestant  religious  orders,   146 
Ptolemaic  theory,   70 
Public    schools    in    America:    posi- 
tion of,   138 
in  cities,   in 
Punishment  of  criminals,   179 

Race  prejudice:   relation  to  Chris- 
tianity,   141 
Railway  strike:   1894,  208 

1916,   198 
Reasonable  interpretation,   19 
Reconstruction    after    Civil    War, 

77 
Reformation:  effect  of,   139 
Reign  of  Terror,   102 
Relipous    organization    in    cities, 

III 
Residents  in  settlements;  function 

of,     121 

Revenge:    discussion    of    word    in 
translations,   165 
by  individuals,   188 

Righteousness:     attempt     to     pro- 
duce by  constraint,    157 

Rihbany:    observations    of    Amer- 
ica, 92 

Roosevelt,     Theodore:     letter     on 
the   Bible,   9 

Rules    for    interpretation    of    stat- 
utes and  constitutions,  14-20 

Russian    Church:    history    of,    155 

Russian   Revolution,   82-8 

Russia:    social   conditions   changed 
by  Bolshevists,  82-4 

Sadducees:    discussion    as    to    Im- 
mortality,  214-15,   218 

Salvation  Army,  work  of,    149 

Science   and    religion:    mutual    re- 
lation, 43 

Scientific    method    in    relation    to 
social   progress,    119 

Scott,  Sir  Walter:   plausible  state- 
ments of  untruth,  96 

Scudder,    Vida:    article   as  to   eco- 
nomic   forces,    69 

Sermon  on  the  Mount:  conditions 
under    which     delivered,     169- 
70 
construction    of,    167 

Settlements:  development  of,   116- 
122 
relation  to  civic  work,  126 


Settlements:  relation  to  neighbour- 
hood, 116,  117 
religious  spirit  of,   108,    132 
social   universities,    119 
Seven    Years'    War:    British    con- 
ditions in,   75 
Shaftesbury,    Lord:    work   of.    132 
Silver  standard:  controversy  over, 

Slavery,    141 

position   of,   in   Roman    Empire, 
190-2 
Social       conditions       in       United 

States,   90-3 
Social   democracy  in    Russia,  82 
Socialism:   criminality  of,  97 

really  slavery,   94 
Socialist   party:    demands    of,    8t, 

86 
Social  life  in  settlements,   123 
Social    progress:    development    un- 
der  Christianity,    128-30 
Society    a    body   with    many   mem- 
bers, 87,   189 
Society  as  the  body  of  Christ,  83 
Sovereignty  of  God,  66 
Spirit  of  times,  69-70 
Spiritual   body,    31 
growth,    105 
nature:  growth  of,  220 
significance   Scriptural  promises, 

State:  duty  to  punish  wrongdoers, 

165-7 
Stetson,    Francis   Lynde:    teachinf 

association  obligation,    195 
Strategy  in  war,  8 
Strikes  in   public  service   systems, 

197-201 
Suffrage:  popular  effect  of,   114 
Sunday:  observance,   158 
Supreme  Court:  rulings  of,  16,  20, 

74.  86 

Taft,     William     H.:     decision     as 
judge  in  strike  cases,   208-9 

Tagore,    Rabindranath:    literal    in- 
terpretation,  16 

Tennyson  on   individual  influence, 
79 
on  knowledge  of  senses,  35 

Testament,   Old:   relation  to  New, 
162 

Theory:  true  function  of,  69 

Toynbee,   Arnold:    founder  of  set- 
tlements,   120,    132 
principle  of  settlements,    121 

Trade  unions:  relations  to  employ- 
ers,   112.    143 

Trench,     Archbishop:    sonnets    on 
prayer,   55 

Trotsky  on  capitalism,  84 


INDEX 


229 


Truth,        cardinal       feature       of 
Christ's  teaching,  23 
cardinal    feature   of    Old    Testa- 
ment teaching,  22 

Tyre:  judgment  upon,  163 

Uniformity  of  nature,  44 
Unity  in  praise  and  worship,  37 

Village  conditions,   108 

War,   162 

Waring,  Col.  George  E. :  arbitra- 
tion in  street-cleaning  depart- 
ment, 202-4 

Washington,    George:    influence   in 
American   Revolution,   72 
cabal  to  displace,   72 

Wayne,  Justice:  rule  of  interpre- 
tation,  16 

Webster,  Daniel:  "the  fact  is 
what  we  want,"  54 


Wesley,   John:   religious  reformer. 

Western  United  States:  develop- 
ment of,   137 

White,  Alfred:  improved  tene- 
ments, 94 

Whole  instrument  to  be  consid- 
ered in  interpretation,   17 

Wilkes:  seizure  of  Confederate  en- 
voys,  71 

William  III:  position  in  English 
Court,   76 

Wilson,  Woodrow:  letter  as  to 
Bible,- 9 

Wordsworth,  William :  quotations 
from,   31,  47 

Working-men:  distrust  of  Church: 
reasons  for,   137 

Wrath:  discussion  of,  as  used  in 
translations,   165 

Young  Men's  Christian  Associa- 
tion, 147,  151 


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